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Two young children were in critical condition Tuesday evening after being struck by a sport utility vehicle in Kearns.

Police say the pair are brother and sister, age 9 and 7, and are believed to have been walking home from David Gourley Elementary School. A few hours after the accident, their backpacks were still lying in the road on 4715 South in the area where they were struck near 4180 West.

A man in his 40s driving a Dodge Durango was heading west on 4715 South when he struck the children around 3:30 p.m., according to Unified Police Department spokesman Justin Hoyal. The children had been attempting to cross the street, but they were not in a crosswalk or crossing with a light, he said.

Investigators believe the children may have been waved across by one car who stopped for them. The driver of the Durango told police he did not see the children, Hoyal said.

Cody Hansen, of West Valley City, said he was driving in front of the vehicle that hit the children. He said he could see the brother and sister running across the street.

"I watched them dart into the middle lane and said, 'They are gonna get hit.' "

As he passed the children, the siblings made a break for the other side of the road as a car in the inside lane slowed down for them and the car in the outside lane kept driving.

A medical helicopter transported both children to Primary Children's Medical Center, where they remained in critical condition.

There are three schools within a mile from the road, and witnesses to the accident say a lot of children cross this road every day.

Lory Acosta, who witnessed the aftermath of the accident, said the road is a busy and "dangerous," and many children run across all the time without a crosswalk.

Acosta was inside her home across the street from where the accident occurred when she heard screeching tires and a car hit something. She ran out to see what had happened and saw two children on the ground.

"They were just screaming in so much pain," Acosta said of the two children.

Acosta said the girl, who appeared to have taken the brunt of the impact from the SUV, had her backpack flung across the street. Witnesses looked through her backpack to try to identify her.

Acosta's mother, Laura Acosta, went to tell the children's mother what happened.

"She [the mother] just started screaming hysterically, asking me to please tell her it was a dream," Laura Acosta said. "She was screaming, 'No, not my babies!' "

The mother was confused as to why the children were even taking that route home from their elementary school, Laura Acosta said.

"She said they weren't even supposed to be there [walking on that road]."

All westbound lanes of 4715 South near the scene were closed for a time after the accident, the Utah Highway Patrol said.