a teenage girl who was killed after the e-scooter she was riding collided with a van has been described by a friend as “a little rainbow of colors and fun”.
Eyewitnesses said the 14-year-old girl was riding an electric scooter when she was hit by a minivan in Green Street, Newham, on Monday at 1.30pm.
A family friend who went to the place to lay flowers on Tuesday said the girl was “a little rainbow of colors and fun”.
The friend added: “I have talked to the mother, she is crushed. She was just a young child who found herself in the world. She has two brothers and two sisters. She loved music, she was naughty, she was funny.”
A doctor on duty who went to work at the Barts Health NHS Trust performed CPR on the victim before paramedics arrived.
He told Standard he heard a “big bang and a scream” at the time of the incident.
He said: “It was immediately apparent that she had suffered a catastrophic head injury and I started cardiopulmonary resuscitation while bystanders called 999.
“The e-scooter was lying next to her.”
He added: “We need to protect our young people and make sure e-scooters are as safe as possible.”
Eyewitness Tanzia, 26, saw the girl on the road moments before the crash.
Tribute at the place where the crash happened
/ John Dunne / Evening StandardShe told Standard: “She had a backpack and something with her, so I assumed she was going to study. She was not in uniform.”
The witness added: “There is not much I can say, but I send my prayers and love to them (the girl’s family).”
On Tuesday morning, children at St Edward’s Catholic Primary School put up a heart-shaped bundle next to the place where the 14-year-old died, leaving messages as a tribute. The collision happened outside the school.
One said, “I’m very sorry for your loss, and I hope your daughter is resting in peace, everyone on the street is thinking about your daughter.”
Another read: “I hope the teenager’s family will be able to handle her tragic death and her soul will go to heaven.”
A third said, “We are so saddened by the terrible accident outside our school.”
Police cordoned off a half-mile stretch of B167 in Newham between Selsdon Road and Barking Road after the crash.
A spokesman for Scotland Yard said: “The driver of the e-scooter, a girl believed to be 14 years old, was treated on the spot but died of her injuries.
‘Close relatives have been notified.
“The driver of the van is with the police – he has not been arrested.”
A spokesman for the London Ambulance Service added: “We sent an ambulance crew, an incident officer and our Hazardous Area Response Team (HART) to the scene.
“We also sent the London air ambulance away. The first paramedic arrived at the scene in less than five minutes.
“We treated a teenager on the spot and took them to the hospital as a priority.”
It came after Standard revealed that more than 100 people were seriously injured on e-scooters in London last year.
Transport for London said 98 people were seriously injured and three killed in the capital, riding on battery-powered scooters that are illegal to use on public roads and sidewalks.
The use of privately owned e-scooters is not allowed on public roads in the UK, but in June 2021, parts of London introduced an e-scooter rental scheme.
It is part of government-sponsored trials taking place across England.
Anyone with information please contact 101 or tweet @MetCC and quote CAD3212 / 21Mar.