TWO young children have died after being hit while they sat in pushchairs when two cars crashed.
Leicestershire Police said the one-year-old boy and two-year-old girl suffered serious injuries in a collision between a dark BMW and a red Mini Cooper.
Two men, aged 29 and 28, pushing the buggies suffered minor injuries in the incident.
Both children were taken to Leicester Royal Infirmary where the boy died yesterday afternoon and the girl died during the night.
A 40-year-old woman and a 61-year-old man were arrested in connection with the incident, which happened at the junction of Narborough Road and Braunstone Gate in Leicester at 9.52am yesterday. They have since been released on police bail pending further inquiries.
People in the area spoke of their horror at finding the two badly injured youngsters.
Florist Anna Jadav, who runs Floral Fusion, a shop a few yards away from the junction in Narborough Road, was one of the first on the scene.
She said: “I was opening up my shop when I heard almighty bang.
“I looked round and saw there had been accident between two cars. I ran over expecting to try to help some grown-ups, but was faced with two very little children lying on the road.
“It was a horrible sight and one I will never forget.”
The car crash involved a BMW and a Mini Cooper.
The Mini came to rest sideways in the middle of Narborough Road, while the BMW ended up on a pedestrian island a few yards away.
It was not clear how the pedestrians came to be involved in the crash.
Karzan Nasroullah, who runs a car wash 20 yards from the scene, said that as he arrived at work he heard a loud bang.
“I looked round and saw two men and two little children lying in the road,” he said.
“I was stunned at first, then walked towards the children.
“It was awful to see. A woman came out of a shop with blankets, then the ambulance and police arrived.”
The junction and roads leading up to it were cordoned off while forensic teams and collision investigators examined the scene.
Detective Sergeant Mark Watling, of Leicestershire Police’s serious collision investigation unit, said: “We are in the very early stages of the incident and are not able to release any further information.”