Boy dies in N.H. holiday parade float

Boy dies in N.H. holiday parade float accident
9-year-old killed after being struck by trailer carried by pickup truck
Updated: 3:45 p.m. ET Dec 3, 2006

PORTSMOUTH, N.H. - A 9-year-old boy has died after being hit by a float in the city’s annual holiday parade.

The boy was hit around 6:15 p.m. Saturday, shortly after the parade started. The float, a trailer being pulled by a pickup truck, was carrying about 20 Cub Scouts ranging in age from 8 to 11, police said.

Authorities did not say if the boy who was struck was one of the scouts on the float. The boy’s name was not released.
It wasn’t clear how the boy was struck. Investigators are trying to sort out many different accounts provided by witnesses, said Lt. Rod McQuate. Authorities are also asking anyone with photographs or videotape of the accident to come forward.

“It goes without saying this is a terrible tragedy,” Chief Michael Magnant said.

One witness said that the boy had been seated on the float with his feet dangling from the side and fell off when the trailer appeared to hit a bump in the road. The boy landed in the path of the trailer’s wheels and was run over, said James Collins, a cook a local restaurant.
© 2006 The Associated Press