An eight-year-old boy, identified simply as Khalid, was on Saturday evening crushed to death by a truck at Owena town, in Idanre Local Government Area of Ondo State.

The boy was said to be hawking pap when the unfortunate incident happened.

It was gathered that the incident occurred as a result of brake failure as the driver struggled to control the vehicle, in the process he lost control of the truck and rammed into the little boy who died on the spot.

An eyewitness told Nigerian Tribune that the truck was moving at a fast speed, but by the time the driver tried to apply the brake, he noticed that the brake was no longer working and hit the boy.

It took the intervention of some travellers and sympathisers before the body of the boy was removed under the truck where he was trapped.

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Irate youths from the town who had mobilised themselves were prevented by men of the Nigeria Police and Army from lynching the driver and setting the vehicle on fire.

Men of the State Police Command from Idanre, however, took the corpse of the young boy to the mortuary while the driver was also arrested.