NAJRAN: A three-year-old boy was battling for life on Sunday after he was deliberately knocked down by a car and stabbed a dozen times by its driver at a village in Najran.

As part of their investigation to arrest the culprit, police are looking at footage taken by the surveillance cameras installed near a mosque where the gory murder attempt took place on Friday, local media reported.

Hussein bin Ali Mahdi Al-Shaari was going toward a shop before the evening prayer when he was attacked, his brother, Ali, was quoted as saying.

“A silver colored car was moving back and forth on the road. Suddenly, the driver knocked Hussein down. Then, the criminal got down from the vehicle and started stabbing an already injured Hussein several times. However, when some residents intervened, the culprit fled the scene,” Ali said.

Hussein was taken by the police to the King Khaled Hospital, where his condition was stated to be critical, with a lot of blood loss.

A medical team got into action and a surgery was performed on him. Doctors said the boy has also suffered fractures in the limbs. He is in the intensive care unit, they added.

Capt. Abdullah Al-Ishwei, a police spokesman, said the Al-Arissa police station received information about the attack at 5 p.m. on Friday. “The police immediately went to the scene of the crime and took the boy to the hospital. A hunt has been launched for the culprit,” he added.