Woman killed in car park accident

A WOMAN has been killed after being knocked down in a supermarket car park while carrying a three-year-old girl.

Both the 42-year-old woman and the toddler were trapped under the vehicle's wheels and firefighters had to use high pressure airbags to lift the car off. The child was taken to the Sick Children's Hospital in Edinburgh following the accident at Sainsbury's in Loanhead, Midlothian, at about 1.10pm yesterday.

The infant was kept in hospital overnight for observation, while the driver of the car was taken to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary suffering from shock.

The woman, whose name has not yet been released, was not the child's mother, but police were today unable to say if she was a relative.

The blue Citroen Picasso had been manoeuvring in a parking bay when the accident happened.

One passer-by said: "We heard the driver just kept on reversing, whoever it was mustn't have seen them. I feel for the family, they must be distraught."

A shop worker added: "When we heard people were being evacuated at Sainsbury's we thought there had been a gas leak or something. Then we heard someone had been killed."

Horrified shoppers were ushered from the store as rescuers battled to save the woman.

A spokeswoman for the fire brigade said the woman had been trapped under the vehicle and died at the scene.

She said: "Crews responded to a road traffic collision in the car park of Sainsbury's at Straiton Retail Park at 1.10pm yesterday.

"An adult female and a child of three years were knocked down by private car and became trapped beneath it. The woman died at the scene. Crews used high-pressure airbags to lift the car and release the woman's body. A police accident investigation is currently under way."

Witnesses to the accident were later taken into the supermarket's cafe where officers took their statements.

Last night, police tape marked the scene after workmen removed a damaged bollard, tree and signs.

A Lothian and Borders Police spokesman said: "This was a tragic incident and our thoughts are with the woman's family."