A JCB driver from Nelson was said to be "utterly distraught" after a seven-year-old boy was crushed under the wheels of his digger.
The 44-year-old, who has not been named, has been treated for shock after the incident, which happened in Oldham on Friday afternoon.
Mohammed Nohman, from Oldham, was running alongside the vehicle near his home when he ran into a lamp post, fell, and was dragged under the machine.
The driver lifted the vehicle in a desperate bid to save him, but the youngster died in the ambulance on the way to hospital.
His father, Mohammed, 38, said: "It is my worst nightmare come true. He was such a fantastic boy, he would never have said a bad word to anyone and everyone liked him."
He said residents had been trying to get something done about the road, which he said had become dangerous since it was made into a one-way street.
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