Two young cousins holding hands crossing a road were smashed into by a hit-and-run driver, killing one of them and leaving the other fighting for her life.

Helena Kotlaroba, aged 12, died in the middle of the road and 11-year-old Zaneta Krokova was thrown to the kerb. She is now is hospital.

The pair had been to a shop to buy sweets and were on their way home with a larger group of family and friends when they were hit by a black Volkswagen Golf on Ashton Road in Oldham, Greater Manchester.

Helena's sister Sylva, 19, was the first to reach them, 100 yards from their house. She told Sky News: "My sister... she was dead on the floor. I went to her and I touched her neck (to see) if she was breathing. She didn't breathe. Nothing."

Sylva described how Helena was covered in blood and that emergency services told her there was nothing they could do to save the girl.

"I can't still believe it... that my sister is dead," she said. "She was too young to die. She was beautiful. She loved dancing and singing. She was a young lady who loved life."

Helena's distraught mother, also called Sylva, wept and stroked her daughter's hair as she was confirmed dead after the incident at around 7.15pm on New Year's Eve.

The family, originally from the Czech Republic, have lived in the UK for eight years.

Sergeant Lee Westhead said: "These are tragic circumstances where a young girl has lost her life.

"I would urge anyone who knows anything to do with this collision to contact police immediately."

In a collision in Birmingham, a 43-year-old man died after being struck by a car on New Year's Eve.

He was confirmed dead at the scene and a 46-year-old woman driver who stopped nearby is said to be assisting investigators.