BALING: A nine-year-old girl was killed after being run over by a family car in a freak accident at her home in Kampung Keledang Luar, Tawar.

       Baling police chief Supt Shamsudin Mamat said in the 2.15pm incident on Saturday, the girl was playing outside the house with her seven-year-old brother and entered the car parked in front of their house.

       “According to witnesses, the girl was seen playing in the driver’s seat and was believed to have lowered the handbrake, causing the vehicle to roll backwards.

       “She panicked and got out of the car, ran to the back and tried to stop it. She was pinned underneath the vehicle,” he said in a statement, Bernama reported.

       Supt Shamsudin said her 29-year-old uncle, an ambulance driver, heard his niece’s screams and rushed to find out.

       He saw her under the vehicle.

       The girl was unconscious when he pulled her out and rushed her to Hospital Sultan Abdul Halim in Sungai Petani.

       Shamsudin said the girl died on the way to the hospital.

       She was believed to have died due to internal bleeding and a fractured skull.

       He said the girl’s parents and grandparents were not at home when the incident occurred.

       Instead, she was with her other siblings, aged seven to 15, and the uncle looked after them.

       He said the girl’s body was sent to Hospital Sultanah Bahiyah in Alor Setar for post-mortem.

       The case has been classified as sudden death and was being investigated as negligence.