A 13-year-old boy remained in a critical condition in Ninewells Hospital last night after being hit by a car in north east Fife.
The local teenager was crossing the main road near Leuchars railway station when he sustained head and leg injuries in a collision with a white Hyundai.
The accident happened on Station Road which is the main A919 Dundee to St Andrews road at around 8.30pm on Thursday.
Two paramedic crews, including the trauma team, attended to treat the boy’s injuries before taking him to Ninewells.
A spokeswoman for the Scottish Ambulance Service said: ”We were called after a male child was hit by a car. He had leg and head injuries and was taken to Ninewells Hospital.”
Fife Constabulary said the crash, just north of the junction with the railway station access, involved a white Hyundai car which was travelling north.
The road was closed for several hours to allow an investigation to be completed and it reopened around 2am.
The driver of the car was not injured. It is understood passing motorists stopped to help.
Taxi driver John Taylor posted get well wishes on Facebook.
He wrote: ”Myself and one of the passengers I had in my taxi helped comfort the young lad till the emergency services arrived.”
He added that he was keen to know how the youngster was doing.
”What a shame, poor lad. Get well soon.”
Several other taxi drivers who do regular runs to and from Leuchars station told The Courier they too had heard about the incident.
One driver said: ”I’m aware of an incident but I haven’t heard any of the detail about what happened.”
Another driver said: ”I hope the young lad recovers ok.”
Leuchars Community Council chairwoman Carol Finnie did not know anything about the detail of the incident but said the community council had been campaigning for years for a crossing to be put on Station Road.
She told The Courier: ”I don’t know exactly how the accident happened but next to the road there is a path that goes along the side of the RAF camp and further down there’s a gap in the fence on to the camp.
”Kids get dropped off from school buses and run across the road. The road is a 50mph zone but there’s an incredible amount of speeding that goes on. We want it brought down to a 40mph or 30mph zone past the houses.
”There’s been a lot of near misses over the years. But this is the first bad accident I’ve been aware of involving a pedestrian. I feel really really sorry for the parents.”
Chief inspector Adrian Annandale, head of road policing with Fife Constabulary, said: ”We are investigating this incident and I would appeal to anyone who may have seen the collision, or anyone who was in the area at that time, to contact the police on 0845 600 5702.”