BREAKING NEWS: 3-year-old killed by truck
The three-year-old child was pronounced dead on scene.
“I couldn’t stop her! I couldn’t do anything!”
This was the cry of a mother after she broke down in front of police officers.
Her three-year old child was knocked down and killed by a truck moments earlier.
The child’s now lifeless body rested under a blanket in the mid-summer heat, while a sombre gathering of relatives, traffic officials, police officers and a truck driver tried to make sense of the situation.
A vehicle driving past on the N11 and the cries of one of the child’s relatives were the only noises to break the near-stifling silence.
The little girl was hit by the truck on the N11 at approximately 12: 15pm today.
According to sources, the family was dropped off just past the Allen Street and N11 intersection, to hitchhike to Pietermaritzburg,
Officials on scene said the child was attempting to cross the road towards a relative on the other side when the tragedy occurred.
The mother of the child tried to grab the child’s collar as she ran, but failed to stop her in time.
The truck, travelling along the N11 in the direction of Waterside, could not avoid the collision, and the child was pronounced dead by EMRS paramedics on-scene.
Inconsolable, the truck driver broke down in tears as he realised the gravity of the incident.
Our thoughts and prayers are with the family at this time.
