A 40-year-old man has died of his injuries after being struck by a dump truck in the Lawrence Heights area.

The incident happened at around 1:30 p.m. on Lawrence Avenue, between Allen Road and Marlee Avenue.

A witness at the scene told CP24 that the man was crossing the street on foot and had the right of way when he was struck.

“There was a man crossing the street. A dump truck came off the Allen Expressway and turned onto Lawrence and ran him over,” she said.

The woman, who did not wish to be identified, told CP24 that the truck had to stop before turning.

Police initially said the man had been cycling, but later said he was walking when he was struck.

The man was rushed to a trauma centre with life-threatening injuries via emergency run, Toronto Paramedic Services said.

A short time later police confirmed that he had been pronounced dead in hospital.

Sgt. Brett Moore told reporters at the scene at around 4 p.m. that officers had located the vehicle involved in the deadly crash.

“Initial reports were that the vehicle did leave the scene and that’s part of the investigation due to the size of the vehicle, the nature of the turning movements,” Moore said. “It was initially let go as a fail-to-remain but we had lots of great witnesses and I want to thank the public for that.”

“With witness accounts and surveillance footage from the local mall, I just got off the phone with traffic investigators and they can confirm that it is no longer a fail-to-remain investigation.”

Yellow police tape cordoned off a large section of Lawrence Avenue near the ramp from the southbound lanes of the Allen Expressway Wednesday afternoon.

The area is expected to remain closed for several hours as police investigate the fatal incident.