Girl, 6, dies after car and gravel hauler collide in Detroit

A traffic accident in Detroit involving a gravel hauler killed a six-year-old child and left another six-year-old in critical condition.

About 8:30 a.m. Monday at Hancock and Brush just blocks away from a hospital, surveillance video shows a gravel hauler loaded with dirt T-boning a Mercury Sable that sped through a stop sign.

Two women were in the front of the car, but it is not clear how many children were in the backseat, possibly four.

Mike Rowe and Jim Lardner were working in the area and ran to the scene to help. Rowe held the dying six-year-old girl until police arrived and rushed her to the hospital, but she could not be saved.

"I picked up the one baby and held her under the tree," said Rowe.  "She wasn't breathing or anything, and then all of the sudden the blood came out and a breath and it was like such a relief.  And I thought, 'Oh my gosh, she might live.'"

Another child, a boy, was critically injured in the crash.

"They were screaming frantically, 'Help, my baby's dying, my baby's dying,'" said Lardner. "Both ladies were hysterical, both holding their child in their hand."

Relatives arrived at the scene shocked and saddened.

The victim's cousin, Sharda Robertson, said, "I can't believe she's dead. I don't even know what to tell my daughter. That was her favorite cousin."

Although police say it wasn't the truck driver's fault, Howard Grant is devastated by the damage and the death of a child.

"I am feeling very, very low for the family," he said.

The driver of the Mercury could face criminal charges.

"Failed to restrain the children in the vehicle, disregard the stop sign, and a few possible other charges involved," said Officer Scott Sheets with the Detroit Police Fatal Squad.

People in the area said drivers run the stop sign all the time. Anyone who may have witnessed this accident or has any information is asked to call the Detroit Police Fatal Squad at (313) 596-1462.