Driver faces charges after lorry crushes boy

A young Indian schoolboy was killed instantly after being crushed underneath a concrete mixer lorry in Sharjah.

Rickie Mathew, 9, was crossing the road, near Buhaira Corniche,when he was hit by a lorry.

The driver of a cement mixer lorry that crushed a nine-year-old Sharjah boy to death is to face charges of involuntary manslaughter and reckless driving, police said tonight. Rickie Mathew was crossing the road outside his home near Buhaira Corniche when he was hit by the lorry. The Indian boy was on his way to a private lesson on Sunday afternoon at around 5pm. "The driver, who is Indian and still in custody, admitted not looking behind him," said a police spokesman. "He felt that as it was a construction site no one would be behind him - he was mistaken. He will appear before Sharjah's criminal court facing charges of reckless driving and involuntary manslaughter." Witnesses heard the boy, a pupil at Delhi Public School, screaming moments before he was dragged under the lorry's rear wheels. The driver told police he had not heard anything because of the noise from the lorry's engine and the mixer. "People at the construction site said the driver was in a rush and was reversing at faster than average speed for a truck that size," the police spokesman said. Family and friends paid tribute to the nine-year-old, describing him as a "fun-loving and charming boy". Vandana Marwaha, Rickie's headmistress, said: "I have been with the family and they are in a state of shock. He was a very intelligent and friendly boy. "Yesterday was supposed to be a day of celebration for the family since their daughter was being honoured by the school for excellence. They were all very excited about this." The boy's older sister, Remi, had walked him part of the way to his lesson to see him across the roads. "She left him in the sand area since it was safe and vehicles are just parked there," said a family member, who asked not to be named. As Rickie walked through the building site he was crushed under the reversing lorry's back tyres. Mari Muttu, an engineer at the site, telephoned the police. "The driver was in a state of panic and came running up to me but was not able to explain what happened," he said. "When I went out, I saw the boy lying near the rear tyre. We immediately brought a plastic sheet from a neighbouring mosque and put it over him." Mr Muttu said safety signs and barriers had been put up around the site but these were usually ignored by parking motorists. "We started construction a month back and it is not a big site," he said. "This is just an unfortunate incident." * The National