Friends and family are mourning a toddler who was struck and killed by a paratransit bus in South Philadelphia early Monday evening.
Police say 2-year-old Mahamadou Sylla ran into the middle of the road on the 1700 block of South 21st Street at 5:15 p.m. when he was struck by the vehicle.
Sylla, who suffered severe head injuries, was taken to the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia where he was pronounced dead at 6:09 p.m.
"It was very quick," said Mahamadou Konate, the boy's uncle. "No one knew he was running in the street."
Police say the driver of the paratransit bus remained at the scene. A witness who was driving in back of the bus at the time of the accident also told NBC10 the bus driver was not speeding when the boy ran into the street.
"We were in the middle of the block approaching a stop sign," she said. "The driver was not moving quickly."
The witness also described the chaotic scene after the boy was hit.
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"He was under the tire and people were screaming," she said. "He was bleeding heavily. The driver pulled over and I pulled over and sat for 10 minutes until police arrived."
While police continue to investigate, they don't expect to file any charges against the 68-year-old bus driver.
"It's a tragedy but it appears from witness accounts as well as viewing video that there's no wrongdoing here," said Philadelphia Police Inspector Scott Small. "This is just a tragic auto accident."
Konate told NBC10 the boy's parents, who are immigrants from West Africa, are devastated.
"Everybody feels terrible right now," he said.
Ethel Graham, a neighbor of the family, told NBC10 the parents always kept a watchful eye on the boy and his sister.
"If they were children left by themselves I could understand," Graham said. "But these children were kept close all the time."
