A female cyclist and garbage truck collided Tuesday morning at a downtown intersection, leaving the woman with life-threatening injuries.

The 38-year-old woman had been cycling westbound on Gerrard St. E., police said. The collision, shortly before 8:45 a.m., happened at Yonge St. around the time the westbound truck turned right, according to police.

“Right now we have a pretty good idea of what happened,” said Const. Clint Stibbe, adding witnesses and video have helped piece together the crash.

The cyclist remained in hospital Tuesday night with life-threatening injuries but Stibbe refused to elaborate.

He said police won’t release more details because they’re still asking more witnesses to come forward. It’s also too soon to say if the 37-year-old truck driver could be facing charges, Stibbe said.

The truck returned to the scene after leaving initially, but Stibbe declined to say whether a witness alerted the driver or if he came back for another reason.

As Philip Millenaar rode his bike to work Tuesday morning on Gerrard St. E., he saw a crowd of people helping the woman and a car pulled over.

“When I turned, over my shoulder I saw the woman lying on top of her bike,” he said. “She was just kind of sprawled, motionless.”

He said the woman looked unconscious and one of her pant legs was ripped.

Millenaar, who is also a driver, said he often takes the same route and it’s “as good as it gets” for cycling downtown.

He said it’s discouraging to see a collision involving a cyclist at the same time bike lanes are https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/crime/article/1287347--jarvis-bike-lane-protester-arrested-during-removal" target="_blank">removed nearby on Jarvis St.