An armored jeep in a motorcade carrying United Nations ambassador Samantha Power fatally struck a young boy in northern Cameroon on Monday.
Power, an ambassador from the U.S., her aides, and journalists were visiting refugee camps and speaking with local officials about battling Boko Haram in the war-torn region when the vehicle hit the 7-year-old boy who ran into the street, the Associated Press reported.
The motorcade was passing through the small city of Moloko when the incident happened.
Power met with the young boy’s mother and father hours after the tragic accident to "offer profound condolences and our grief and heartbreak," according to the Associated Press.
Residents of the boy’s village were lined along the roadway when the motorcade sped by. The child darted into the street as the vehicles passed, giving the Cameroonian driver of the jeep no time to react.
Right before the boy was hit a man ran toward the street with his arms raised in an attempt to stop the child, the Associated Press reported. The jeep stopped at first after the accident, but U.S. security forces ordered it to move on through the unsecured area.
An ambulance in the motorcade stayed behind to try and save the boy. Though he was rushed to the hospital, sources told the Associated Press that his condition was "already hopeless."
The Washington Post noted that motorcades transporting government officials have killed "numerous" people over the years. In 2009, a caravan carrying Vice President Joe Biden hit and killed a pedestrian right outside of Washington, D.C.