Boy (8) dies after being hit by car in Co Antrim

An eight-year-old boy has died after being hit by a car in Co Antrim this morning.

The boy has been named by police as Adam Gilmour.

Adam’s mother and her six children were struck by a car while they were walking to school at around 8.30am on the Loughill road in Cloughmills.

An 18-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the collision.

Area commander for Ballymena, chief inspector Stephen McCauley said “Adam, his mother and five siblings were making their way to school this morning when the collision happened.

“His mother, along with four of his siblings, are currently receiving treatment in hospital at present for a range of injuries, some of which are serious. One child was not injured and is being looked after by a relative.”

He added: “The fact that a child has died on the way to school this morning heaps tragedy upon an already stark figure. I offer my sincere condolences to the family at this most difficult of days.”

The mother was taken to the Causeway Hospital in Coleraine, Co Derry.

Police closed the Loughill Road at Cloughmills at its junctions with Main Street, Cloughmills and Lislaban Rd. It has since been reopened.

The PSNI have appealed to anyone who witnessed the collision or was travelling on the Loughill Road from around 8.00am this morning and may have seen the Gilmour family to contact the Collision Investigation Unit in Antrim.