A four-year-old girl is fighting for her life in hospital after she was struck by a vehicle in Haldimand County on Saturday afternoon.

Ontario Provincial Police say shortly before 1 p.m., the young girl was with her family on Main Street in Hagersville, located about 40 kilometres southwest of Hamilton, when she and her 13-year-old brother were struck by a car.

According to police, an 80-year-old woman was sitting in her parked vehicle on Main Street when the vehicle suddenly accelerated while in reverse.

The car crossed into the northbound lanes of the roadway, struck an SUV, mounted a curb, and hit the two children on the sidewalk.

The little girl was pinned underneath the car and dragged for a short distance, OPP Const. Ed Sanchuk confirmed.

“Her father immediately jumped into action, grabbed her from underneath that car,” Sanchuk said in a video posted on social media.

The children were immediately rushed to hospital by their parents. The young girl is currently listed in critical condition and her brother suffered serious but non-life-threatening injuries, police say.

“My thoughts are with this family,” Sanchuk said.

The elderly driver was taken to hospital but was not injured.

Main Street was shut down between Parkview Drive and King Street for the police investigation on Saturday afternoon.

“We need to figure out all the pieces of the puzzle of what happened here, exactly why this transpired. That is where our technical collision investigators come in and we are going to get the bottom of this,” Sanchuk said.