An eleven-year-old girl that was struck by a truck in Raleigh, North Carolina, during the Christmas Parade has died, police have confirmed.
The tragic accident took place around 10.14am near the intersection of Hillsborough Street and Boylan Avenue when the truck lost control on Saturday and hit her.
The 20-year-old driver, Landen Christopher Glass has now been charged with misdemeanour and careless driving, reports said.
Eye-witnesses said that the driver shouted from the window that he had lost control of the vehicle, before he struck the seven-year-old.
“I just saw them coming down the street really fast and you can tell it was not like gas, like they weren’t gassing, it was rolling, kind of rolling down the street. They were freaking out, yelling at people - get out the way like you can tell they were panicking”, Melissa Stephens, who was present at the Christmas parade told ABC11 News.
Meanwhile, Raleigh’s mayor, Mary-Ann Baldwin tweeted: “Our hearts are heavy as we mourn the loss of the young girl who lost her life today at the Raleigh Christmas Parade. Our prayers are with her family, friends and the dancers from CC & Co. The community is here for you as we try to understand and process this shared tragedy.”
The founder of the company, CC & Company Dance Complex, that was orchestrating the performances during the parade, said: “We are devastated. Our dance family is a close-knit group and today our hearts are broken. We are working closely with authorities as they determine what happened and why.”
The Raleigh Christmas Parade has now officially been cancelled because of the tragic incident.
The governor, Roy Cooper said that he was “devastated about the “tragedy at today’s Raleigh Christmas Parade”.
He added: “In a joyous season on what should be a happy day, we instead mourn for this family and their friends as we keep them in our prayers.”
