Young brothers, 6 and 7, die in crash after taking grandparents’ car

Two Missouri brothers, ages 6 and 7, died in a crash on Friday after taking their grandparents’ car.

The car, which was being driven by the seven-year-old, crashed and caught fire after being driven through a field and then onto a country road in an unincorporated area east of Kansas City.

Sgt. Andy Bell, a spokesperson for the Missouri Highway Patrol, said the 2007 Buick LaCrosse belonged to the boys’ grandparents.

Photos shared on Twitter by Sheriff Darryl Forte show numerous emergency response vehicles and officials at the scene of the crash.

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“It’s pretty unique, to say the least, and devastating,” Bell said, per NBC News.

The car was reportedly airborne more than once. According to KSHB-TV, the vehicle hit a guardrail, landed on the ground and went back into the air. It then hit a wire, rolled over, crashed into a tree and caught fire.

“We believe that speed had to have been a contributing factor for them to have travelled, flipped, et cetera,” Bell said, according to NBC News.

The outlet says the brothers weren’t wearing seatbelts at the time of the accident at around 4 p.m.

The boys, whose names have not been released, were pronounced dead on the scene.

The crash is currently under investigation by the Missouri Highway Patrol Major Crash Team. The team is looking into how the boys came to be in possession of the car.

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meaghan.wray@globalnews.ca