Teenager dies in lorry tragedy

The accident happened in Stubbington, near Portsmouth

A teenager who was struck on the head by part of a passing lorry while on his way home from school has died.

Daniel Beveridge, 13, sustained severe head injuries when he was hit by a hydraulic stabiliser jack which was jutting out of the side of the 30-tonne truck.

His friend Tom Trusler, 12, was also seriously hurt in the accident which happened at 1540BST on Monday at Stubbington, near Portsmouth, Hampshire.

A spokesman for the Queen Alexandra Hospital in Cosham, where both boys were initially taken, confirmed that Daniel, of Fareham, Hants, died on Tuesday evening.

Tom, also of Fareham, has since been transferred to a neurological unit at Southampton General Hospital where his condition is described as stable.

The two friends were on their way home from Crofton School in Stubbington, when the accident happened.

Hampshire police said the 46-year-old driver of the lorry, which was carrying soil waste, stopped at the scene as soon as he realised what had happened.

Police are investigating how the stabiliser jack - used to steady the vehicle during loading and unloading - came to be sticking out of the side of the lorry.

The vehicle, which had been at a pipeline construction site, was operated by Southampton-based PT Contractors.