4-year-old dies after running under truck

Police at the scene of an accident on Hyperion Drive, Manurewa. Picture / Brett Phibbs

The family of a young child hit by a light truck in Manurewa yesterday kneeled over him and begged him to live as he lay motionless on the road, says a neighbour.

The boy had been playing at a park across the road from his home in Hyperion Drive before he died.

A family member said the 4-year-old was with an older cousin but had run on to the road by himself.

He was hit by a lawn-mowing contractor's truck.

The family member, who did not want to give her name, said the cousin ran inside to alert the boy's family.

"It happened so fast," she said.

Neighbour Nooroa Sharma said she heard the sound of braking and went outside. The boy was lying on the road and his father was breathing into his nose and mouth.

A woman with him was saying, "don't leave, Dad's still right here with you".

Ms Sharma said an ambulance arrived but there was nothing paramedics could do for the boy.

The road was closed while an investigation was carried out by the police serious crash unit.