Seven Year Old Boy Dead In Horrific Accident Involving Vintage Traction Engine

A seven-year-old boy was killed this afternoon after he was hit by a steam traction engine at an open-air museum. The boy was pronounced dead at the scene at the Beamish Museum in Stanley, County Durham, after emergency services attended just before 3pm. Visitors to the museum, which has fully working trams and old-fashioned vehicles driving around the venue, were evacuated after the incident.

The young boy was hit by a 'steam roller' type vehicle, a North East Ambulance Service spokesman confirmed. They received a call saying the boy had been hit by a steam roller at 2.49pm and arrived at 2.55pm to find that the tragic youngster had died. Inspector Kevin Blakey of Durham Constabulary said there has been a fatality, adding: 'I can tell you it's very tragic what's happened.' Durham Police confirmed that the boy is from the County Durham area. His father was taken to the University Hospital of North Durham. Inspector Stephen Dowdle of Durham Police said at the scene this afternoon: 'Police are investigating the death of a child at Beamish museum this afternoon. 'Police were called to the museum by the Ambulance Service just before 3pm 'A seven year old boy had been involved in an incident with a steam traction engine and trailer and had been pronounced dead at the scene. 'He appeared to have suffered serious head injuries. 'The engine driver was taken to hospital suffering from shock. 'He will be spoken to by police at an appropriate time and is being treated as a witness. 'The identities of those involved are not being released, but it is understood that neither of them were visitors to the museum. 'Detectives and road policing officers are at the scene to establish exactly what took place. 'The Health and Safety Executive is also at the scene and this will be a joint investigation.' Richard Evans, Museum Director at Beamish, said in a statement: 'We are naturally very shocked and our thoughts are with the boy's family at this time. 'We took the immediate decision to close the museum for the rest of the day as we support the joint investigation.' Police are seeking witnesses to the actual incident, anyone who saw what happened is asked to ring Durham Police on 101 and ask for the priority dispatch centre.