PORTSMOUTH, N.H. (AP) – A 9-year-old boy died after being run over by a float in the city’s annual holiday parade a day after a similar incident in which a child was seriously injured during a parade in Maine.

It happened around 6:15 p.m. Saturday, shortly after the parade started, near the intersection of Islington and Columbia streets. The float – a trailer being pulled by a pickup truck – was carrying about 20 Cub Scouts ranging in age from 8 to 11, police said.

“It goes without saying this is a terrible tragedy,” Chief Michael Magnant said. “As a police department, as a community, our hearts are broken.”

One witness told the Portsmouth Herald that the boy had been seated on the float with his feet dangling from the side and fell off when the trailer appeared to hit a bump in the road. The boy landed in the path of the trailer’s wheels and was run over, said James Collins, a cook at the Bread Box who was taking a cigarette break in front of the restaurant.

Police haven’t released the boy’s name. Lt. Rod McQuate said investigators are trying to sort out the many different accounts provided by witnesses.

“We have to sort out the perceptions from reality,” he said.

Police want to hear from anyone who witnessed the accident or has video or photographs of the intersection where it happened, he said.

The Portsmouth death came a day after a 3-year-old girl was seriously injured after falling from a parade float in Freeport, Maine.

In the Maine incident, the girl fell from a float and was run over by the rear wheels of the trailer’s dual axle Friday night. She was being treated at the Maine Medical Center for a broken pelvis and internal injuries.

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