Boy fights for life after van crash

A 9-year-old boy was in Palmerston North Hospital last night with suspected head injuries after he was struck by a van.

The boy was riding a scooter when the crash happened at a pedestrian crossing on the corner of Broadway and The Square about 7.20pm yesterday.

He was trapped underneath the van and had to be freed by firefighters from the Palmerston North and Milson stations.

Police constable Clint Whitehead said the boy had been waiting at the pedestrian crossing as the van approached.

Whitehead said the driver of the van stopped but the driver then thought, judging from the boy's body language, that he was not going to cross the road.

The van continued through the crossing as the boy rode across on his scooter.

"The boy has gone through on his scooter and as a result the boy has become trapped beneath the van suffering moderate head injuries," he said.

Whitehead said the boy's mother was with him at the time but he did not know on which side of the crossing she had been standing.

No charges had been laid as police inquiries were continuing.

Whitehead asked for any witnesses to the crash to contact Palmerston North police.

Meanwhile, about 20 minutes earlier a man and woman were injured in a car crash outside of the city.

The crash on Milson Line in Newbury happened around 7pm, and left a man in critical condition and a female in serious condition.

Both were taken to Palmerston North Hospital for treatment.