Ukrainian child killed by electric scooter in France

Five-year-old's family arrived in France after the Russia invasion of Ukraine

The incident took place on the Promenade des Anglais in Nice. Getty Images

A five-year-old Ukrainian refugee died after being hit by an electric scooter being ridden at high speed in the southern French city of Nice, police said.

The child and his mother were crossing the Promenade des Anglais, the famous palm-lined street overlooking the Mediterranean, at a pedestrian crossing when the accident happened on Wednesday.

The boy "was holding a bag that his mother was also holding, but was walking a bit ahead of her", police said on Thursday, and that the pair were "hidden by street furniture".

A 40-year-old on an electric scooter who was going "at excessive speed" could not avoid the child, they said.

"Despite being injured and having fallen, the rider of the electric scooter immediately cared for the child," they said.

Nice mayor Christian Estrosi, on Twitter, expressed his "deep emotion" over the incident and opposition to self-service scooters.

"We are studying all possible solutions for avoiding these tragedies," he said.

According to police in the Riviera city, accidents involving electric scooters are increasingly occurring, especially on roads.

The boy's family had arrived in France at the beginning of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the head of a French-Ukrainian association in the Riviera, Iryna Podyriako, told the Nice-Matin regional daily.