A seven-year-old girl has died and a five-year-old boy was severely injured following an accident involving a city bus on the Vleutenseweg in Utrecht early on Friday morning.

Emergency services and a trauma helicopter were called to the scene which was cordoned off by police. The children were not accompanied by a parent, and the cause of the accident is still under investigation, police said.

The people on the bus who witnessed the accident were taken to a nearby café and offered victim support. Other eye witnesses can report to the Kroonstraat police station for help.

Utrecht mayor Sharon Dijksma called the incident ‘a tragedy’ for the families involved as well as emergency service staff.

Bus services around the Vleutenseweg have been suspended.