Baby fighting for life after mother hit and killed by car while pushing pram in London

Twenty-three-year-old woman hurled 20ft into air after 'horrendous' collision, says witness

A pram sits in Croydon Road, Penge, after a mother was hit and killed by a Ford Mondeo (Rex Features)

A young mother has been killed and her baby her baby left in critical condition after they were hit by a car in south London.

The 23-year-old was pushing her eight-month-old son in a pram when they were struck by the Ford Mondeo in Penge.

A witness said the mother was thrown "20 feet" into the air by the “horrendous” collision in Croydon Road just after 8pm on Sunday.

Paramedics fought to save her but she was pronounced dead at the scene.

Her son was taken to hospital, where the Metropolitan Police said he remained in a critical condition on Monday.

The woman is believed to have been crossing the road with her partner when the collision happened.

Joe Ball, a 30-year-old electrician who was nearby at the time, told the Evening Standard: “I have never seen anything like it in my life. I knew she was dead when I called the ambulance. I just couldn’t look.

“All I can think about is hearing the car hit her. I have never heard a bang like it.

He added: “I heard her boyfriend say, ‘My girlfriend is dead’. It was just horrendous to see something like that.”

The woman’s next of kin have been informed but she has not yet been formally identified.

The Mondeo’s driver, a 51-year-old man, stopped at the scene and has not been arrested.

He was taken to hospital for treatment but has since been discharged.

Scotland Yard said in a statement: “Officers continue to work to establish the full circumstances of the incident.

“Detectives from the Serious Collision Investigation Unit are asking anyone with dash-cam footage, or who witnessed the incident, to come forward and speak to police.”