Seven-year-old boy seriously injured in hit-and-run crash with 11-year-old behind the wheel

The driver of the silver Kia, later idenftied as an 11-year-old boy, left the car at the scene of the crash and fled on foot

An 11-year-old reportedly struck a 7-year-old boy with a car the older child was driving in southeast Washington, DC, police said (Fox 5 News/video screengrab)

A seven-year-old boy is being treated for serious injuries after he was struck in a hit-and-run by the driver of a car who police say was an 11-year-old child.

At around 6.49pm on Monday, the Metropolitan Police Department of Washington DC responded to a report about a crash that had taken place close to a playground on the city’s southeast side, less than one mile from the Maryland state border.

When DC police officers arrived on the scene, they discovered a conscious and alert seven-year-old boy who had been struck by a silver Kia, which the driver of the vehicle had abandoned at the scene of the crime before escaping on foot.

The child suffered a serious but non-life-threatening injury and was airlifted to a nearby hospital’s trauma centre, police said, according to NBC Washington.

“The driver of the vehicle has been identified, and is an 11 year-old juvenile male,” the DC Police said in a written statement to The Independent.

Video footage from Fox 5 News showed the silver Kia reportedly involved in the hit-and-run being towed away from the residential area where the Monday night crash had occurred, spotlighting how both a school and a recreational centre were both just metres away from where the incident unfolded.

An investigation into the incident has been opened by the Office of the Attorney General, a spokesperson for the DC Police told The Independent.