Seven-year-old boy is killed by car in Penicuik

A SEVEN-year-old boy has been killed after being struck by a car just yards from his grandparents’ home.

The boy, who has been named locally as Sacred Heart Primary School pupil Ruaridh McKay, was hit by a blue 4x4 just before 4pm yesterday.

Emergency services rushed to Dick Terrace in Penicuik, but the child was pronounced dead at the scene.

Neighbours in the town today told of their shock as they paid tribute to the youngster.

One woman delivering flowers to the street said: “It’s so awful. He went to nursery school with my wee boy.

“I know his parents, Myra and Roddy, and his grandparents, Joe and Ruby, who owned Joe’s Shu Bar for years and years. I can’t imagine what they must be going through.”

The tragedy is understood to have occurred after the schoolboy got out of his mother’s parked car across the road from his grandparents’ house.

A local woman, who asked not to be named, said: “He was a lovely wee lad. Everyone is just in shock. We were so horrified to hear a kid had been hit.

“I’ve got kids of my own who were out playing and I immediately ran out to check where they were. I just feel so awful for his family.”

Matt Starr, 21, who lives in neighbouring Loanburn Avenue, said: “I didn’t see the collision itself but I saw the

aftermath. It was very bad, we could see him lying in the road as people tried to save him.”

Mr Starr’s mother, Susan Cormack, 48, said: “I believe a nurse who lives nearby had come down and tried to help. We saw the emergency services working on him and then they took him into the ambulance, but the ambulance didn’t go anywhere.”

Police said a driver was helping them with their inquiries as an investigation got under way.

Inspector Richard Latto of Lothian and Borders Police said: “We are currently piecing together the details of this tragic event. We will be carrying out a full investigation and would appeal for any witnesses or anyone with any information to come forward.

“We have the vehicle involved in the collision and the driver is helping us with our inquiries.”

He added that the recent winter weather was not thought to be “a particular

factor at this stage”.