Boy fights for life after being hit by a van on busy Wednesbury road

The boys were crossing the A461 High Bullen on a bike and a scooter at around 5.15pm yesterday when the accident happened.

Witnesses told how the scooter was stuck under the van and medics treated the boys lying in the road. The youngsters were airlifted to hospital after a spate of incidents left six people injured across the region.

The 13-year-old was said to be critical but stable in hospital, while the 10-year-old suffered head injuries.

The older boy is a former pupil of Hollyhead Primary School and is understood to attend nearby Wodensborough Community Technology College

The accident happened around 200 yards from the roundabout near the bus station.

The driver of the white Transit van was uninjured and stopped at the scene. Officers were speaking to him as they hoped to establish the circumstances of what happened.

No arrest or charge has been made. One 24-year-old woman, who lives nearby and was in the town centre at the time, said: "When I came back home around 5.30pm I could see the two young boys lying in the road. There was a scooter stuck underneath the van, and a bike lying nearby."

Commuter Leanne Stevens, aged 22, from West Bromwich, was on her way to Darlaston when she came across the incident.

She said: "I saw the two children in the road, one near the van and the other was a bit further along, and doctors were helping them.

"One helicopter landed in the park nearby and one of the boys was taken away."

The road was fully reopened around three hours later at 8.15pm after the van was removed.

Meanwhile, motorists on the M6 had delays of up to 30 minutes after a crash between a car and a motorbike southbound between junctions eight and seven near Great Barr.

A West Midlands Ambulance Service spokesman said: "On arrival, crews found a car that had suffered a significant rear end impact and a motorcycle that was badly damaged.

"The rider, a 44-year-old man, had suffered facial injuries but thankfully these turned out not to be as bad as the level of damage might have suggested."

The rider was taken to Sandwell Hospital, and although the driver of the car felt ill he then recovered. An air ambulance was called out but was not needed.

In a separate incident in Illey Lane in Frankley, near Halesowen, a car crash left one man with two broken legs, possible fractures to his pelvis and right arm, and potential back injuries.

The 29-year-old was stuck in his car for almost an hour while fire crews tried to free him. He was taken to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham.

Another man in the car, and a third man from a second car, were also taken to hospital for treatment to cuts and bruising.