Gulf News
 
Dubai, Dec 8: Police have launched a hunt for a red four-wheel drive which ran over a child.

A police official said Henry, a two-and-a-half-year-old American child, was killed in the accident.

"Police are rummaging around to catch the person or persons responsible for the accident," the official said. According to the police, the incident happened on November 16 in the residential area of Mirdif in the night.

Henry's grandfather Jim Morris told Gulf News that they are closely following the case. "The accident happened around 9pm but there was enough light in the area to identify the colour of the car which hit my grandson," said Morris.

"My grandson was run over by an overspeeding red Hummer H2. The driver struck and took the life of Henry," he said.

He said four witnesses and also the family members have seen how the car hit Henry and how the driver escaped. "My son and his wife came from Abu Dhabi to visit me at that day, just to stay for the weekend. The accident happened in front of our house in Mirdif," he said.

He said: "Henry stepped out of the car along with his mother and sister. The car hit him when he tried to cross the road."

He said the Hummer came from the corner of the road and was overspeed. "When the car hit Henry, the driver slowed down for a moment and then drove off," he said.

He said the family members and the four witnesses who saw the accident identified the car as a Hummer H2 with a brown Abu Dhabi registered number plate. "He was hit in front of his parents and his three sisters - aged eight, seven and four. Our neighbours rushed him to a hospital but it was not equipped to receive such cases so police transferred him to the American hospital."

Henry was in a coma for two weeks because of a brain damage. He passed away on November 28, he said with tears welling in his eyes.

Morris said the child's body was taken to Illinois in US and buried there.

Morris said they reported the matter to Al Rashidiya Police Station.