A three-year-old boy has died following a collision with a tractor on a farm in Greater Manchester, police have confirmed.
An investigation has been launched into the incident, which occurred in the Tottington area of Bury on Saturday afternoon (16 July).
Police were called by North West Ambulance Service after an ambulance had been signalled to stop by a vehicle carrying a seriously injured child on Rochdale Old Road.
Officers attended and the boy, who has been named as Albie Speakman, was tragically pronounced dead by paramedics before he could be taken to hospital.
Enquiries quickly established that the boy had suffered his critical injuries following a collision with a tractor on farmland off Bentley Hall Road.
The driver of the tractor is assisting police with enquiries, the force said, and a scene remains in place at the farm while investigators work to establish the circumstances alongside the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
Chief Inspector Ian Partington said it was a "heart-breaking incident that has seen a young boy tragically lose his life".
"My thoughts go out to his family and loved ones who will be utterly devastated by today’s events," he added.
“Despite his family flagging down an ambulance while driving him towards hospital quickly as they could, the boy sadly could not be saved after the best efforts of paramedics.
“We are working to ensure that a full investigation is carried out, and the farmland where we understand this incident to have occurred remains cordoned off to allow our investigators to conduct thorough enquiries.”
The tragedy follows the recent death of a teenage farmer, who was killed while working on a farm in Devon on 22 June.
A total of 34 people in Britain were killed in agriculture during the past year, according to the latest available figures by HSE.
The startling figure compares to an annual average number of 28 fatalities in the agriculture, forestry and fishing sectors over the last five years.
