Search on for driver after 5-year-old girl struck, killed in hit-and-run in Newark
NEWARK, New Jersey (WABC) -- Police in Newark continues their search Wednesday for the driver in a hit-and-run that left a 5-year-old girl dead.
The victim's father and younger sister were also struck but are expected to survive.
The incident happened Tuesday night along Sixth Avenue West and North 9th Street.
Police say the child's father was carrying the victim in his arms while holding the hand of his younger daughter as they crossed the street.
A witness who told Eyewitness News he is the victim's uncle passed the scene of the crash on his way to work just after dusk Tuesday evening, but didn't realize he was witnessing his own family's tragedy.
He said his brother, Ismeal Sangare, had been walking with 5-year-old Fanta and another child, 2-year-old Ramada, when the car came out of nowhere on Sixth Avenue and hit all of them and kept on going.
"You saw a family here on the first corner here on the ground like distraught crying and we knew it was like terrible," neighborhood resident Robert Lindsay said.
Lindsay came home from work minutes later. On this block, he says reckless driving is routine.
"I've lived here for like five years and I've always thought, you know, people come speeding up here you have to be really careful at this area because they crest right over the hill and have no idea what's there," he said.
Other residents said the intersection is notorious for accidents and speeding. The street light on the corner is busted, and they said they need more lights outside.
RELATED: Eyewitness News is tracking crime and safety across New York City and in your neighborhood
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