Winnipeg tow truck driver killed

Winnipeg tow truck drivers are mourning the death of Amanda Frizzley, a colleague who died in a traffic accident Sunday morning in Winnipeg.

Frizzley was driving a tow truck at about 4:40 a.m. Sunday when she was involved in a collision with a sport-utility vehicle at Donald Street and York Avenue in downtown Winnipeg.

The SUV, which was not stolen,was travelling the wrong way down York, an eastbound one-way street, police confirmed Monday morning.

The impact was strong enough toflip Frizzley's heavy tow truck onto its roof.

Chuck Doiron, who lives in an apartment on York, awoke to the sound of glass breaking.

"I had my window open and I heard the smash and the glass, smashing of thevehicles," he said."The impact was quite the squeal shattered glass all over the place and metal being twisted, by the sounds of it."

More than 100 friends and family members shared their condolences and memories of "Mandy" in a group set up on the social networking website Facebook on the weekend, recalling her as an upbeat, popular and caring woman with a "contagious smile."

"We got a lot of hits on the internet last night and a lot of people, they all said the same thing about her, that when she would hug them, they would know they were hugged, because it was Amanda. She was always there for them, whenever they needed help," her mother, Janet Frizzley, said Monday.

"She was a very strong, independent girl.I think that had a lot to do with her doing the job she did. She loved her job a lot," she added.

Several tow truck drivers gathered at the scene Sunday afternoon to pay their respects to Frizzley.

"She was a good person," Tony Phee said."Being a female in the towing business, it's not something that you hear of very often, you know, [but] she took to it and stuck it out.

"She was just, I'm sure, on her way to a tow and to think this was happening it's just unfortunate."

A passenger in the tow truck was treated and released from hospital Sunday, while the driver of the other vehicle involved in the crash remains in hospital with serious injuries, police said.

So far, no charges have been laid in connection with the crash.