A SCHOOLBOY was fighting for his life last night after a hit-and-run incident with a stolen car in the West End of Edinburgh.
The 15-year-old was crossing Dalry Road near Haymarket Station when he was struck by a silver Renault car at about 2pm yesterday.
The car was abandoned in nearby Murieston Crescent.
The unnamed teenager was taken to Edinburgh's Royal Inf
irmary suffering a serious head injury and was described as "stable" before later being readmitted to the intensive care unit.
The street was closed for three hours as accident investigators examined the scene.
Police are appealing for anyone who witnessed the incident, or who saw the driver abandon the vehicle, to contact them.
One local shopkeeper said: "A customer came in and said there had been an accident. It looks like the young lad ran across the road to catch his bus which was just pulling away.
"As he got near the centre of the road, a silver car came hurtling round the corner and knocked him down.
"I saw him being attended to by the ambulance crew and although he seemed conscious, there was a lot of blood."
Jim Graham, who runs a hairdressing salon close to the bus stop, said there was little sign of drama at the time. I was working away when I noticed that all the traffic had disappeared from the street and saw that the police had blocked it. It happened at a busy time on what is a very busy and fast road.
"I saw police walking up the street examining objects on the road and they marked what looked possibly like a windscreen wiper, and then another policeman dressed in black overalls came up and collected it."
A 21-year-old man was last night helping police with inquiries.
The accident is the third on that stretch of road in recent weeks and the third hit-and-run incident in Edinburgh involving a child in as many years.
Last year, Daniel Jackson, 31, was jailed for 13 years after killing four-year-old Olivia Donachie and seriously injuring her mother, Rachel, in a hit-and-run incident in Redford Drive, Colinton on 30 May.
Isaac Purcell, 26, received a 12-year sentence after he hit and killed Jack Anderson, ten, at 60mph on Saughton Road North in October 2006.
The full article contains 401 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
