A man is dead and Saskatoon police and the Office of the Chief Coroner are investigating why it took more than an hour to respond to the crash on 20th Street this morning.

The driver was pronounced dead at hospital.

"We are looking into this right now. We received the call at 5:19 regarding a collision. Our officers arrived on scene at 6:26," Alyson Edwards with police wrote in an email.

"We are reviewing how the call was handled and why there was a delay."

Emergency workers perform CPR on victim. (Dan Zakreski/CBC)

Police said the driver suffered a medical emergency just before the accident. His pick-up truck had crossed the centre lined and smashed into a parked van.

Witnesses said they made repeated calls to 911, telling the operator that the victim was in medical distress.

Sang Chanmany called 911. (Dan Zakreski/CBC) Sang Chanmany, who works at a bakery near where the crash occurred, said he first called 911 at about 5:15 a.m. CST when he saw the man trapped inside his vehicle.

"I noticed the man wasn't moving, he was drooling," he said.

The motor was running, the vehicle still in drive and the doors locked.

Chanmany said that other witnesses also called 911.

When rescue workers did arrive, at around 6:15 a.m. CST, they frantically worked on the man. They performed chest compressions while he lay on the street, and then continued while moving him on a stretcher.