A SIX-year-old girl became the latest road statistic after being mowed down by a truck as her parents watched helplessly.
Numbed with shock and grief, her grandmother said the tragedy happened right in front of the family home along Sukanaivalu Rd in Lautoka on Monday afternoon.
Asenaca Meli, 67, said she was still reeling from the incident because Vasemaca Doris had just bade farewell a few minutes before her tragic and sudden passing.
"I was with her in the room minutes before the accident happened. I had no idea that death was waiting for her outside," she recalled.
"That is why it is hard to accept what happened.
"I never thought that my granddaughter would be taken away so suddenly.
"She was a well-behaved girl and always told me that she wanted to be a doctor when she grew up."
Feroz Khan, who witnessed the accident, said the little girl was with her dad by the side of the road before the accident.
"All of a sudden, the young girl wanted to cross the road to go to her mother on the other side of the road, not realising that a three-tonne vehicle was approaching," he said.
"I called out to the driver to stop after the accident but he didn't stop."
West police spokeswoman Naina Ragigia said an investigation into the accident had started.
She said the driver was in police custody and had been interviewed.
The road death toll so far is nine compared to seven for the same period last year.