A PENSIONER was crushed to death by a 20-tonne digger on a busy London street while children looking on screamed and cried.
The 70-year-old man was crossing the road when he was hit by the Volvo digger and ended up completely underneath it.
Police have arrested a 61-year-old man on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving and he remains in custody.
The horrific crash occurred just after 11.30am on Thursday on Kilburn High Street in North London.
Police erected a cordon and set up a forensic tent in front of the digger which was surrounded by police tape.
Harjeet Shekarpouri, 21, was working in Fone Vape across from the crash
He told Metro: “It was horrible, there was screaming and a woman shouting ‘move’ to the driver.
“The poor man was underneath. People were crying. I’ve never seen anything like that, I can’t get it out of my head.”
He added that he couldn’t see how the elderly victim could have survived the immense weight of the digger.
Christopher Todorov told the paper he heard shouting, screaming and children crying after the smash.
Kilburn High Street was closed while police carried out an investigation.
The traffic caused chaos for commuters as drivers were diverted around the crash site.
The Metropolitan Police have urged anyone with information or footage of the crash to get in touch with the force.
A spokesperson said: ‘Police were called to reports of a road traffic collision between a heavy plant vehicle and a pedestrian on Kilburn High Road.
“Officers attended the scene alongside the London Ambulance Service and London’s Air Ambulance.
“Sadly, the pedestrian, a 70-year-old man, died at the scene.
“The driver, a 61-year-old man, stopped at the scene. He was arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving and taken into police custody, where he remains.”
A London Ambulance Service spokesperson told Construction News: “The first paramedic arrived at the scene in around five minutes. Despite the efforts of our team, a person sadly died at the scene.”
They added that two ambulances, three paramedics in rapid response cars and an incident response officer all scrambled to the scene.
