RCMP and CN Police continue to investigate a pedestrian collision with a train on Sunday which claimed the life of a 78-year-old woman.

Steinbach RCMP were called to La Broquerie, Man., around 12:40 p.m. for reports of a pedestrian having been struck by a train. Mounties say the collision happed at a railway crossing on Rue Principale in the community.

Witnesses say the elderly woman and her male companion were trying to cross in front of the oncoming train. The collision occurred during a parade to celebrate Saint Jean Baptiste day, and some suggest that the parade may have been a distraction or caused confusion for the victim.

Police and emergency personnel attended to the scene and located the woman. She was pronounced deceased at the scene.

La Broquerie is a small community of approximately 1,400 people, about 65 kilometres southeast of Winnipeg. Community members have been taking to social media to offer condolences, words of comfort, and support for those who witnessed the incident, many of them children.