A third-grader was crushed by the wheels of a tractor-trailer Friday as he walked to school on the last day before a holiday break, police said. They said the driver had a suspended license.

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Noshat Nahian, 8, was walking with his 11-year-old sister just before 8 a.m. and was about a block from P.S. 152 in Queens when the truck's rear tires hit him as it turned onto busy Northern Boulevard from 61st Street, police said.

"The kid was wearing a hood and looking down," witness Maria Humala told the New York Post. "He kept walking and went under the truck."

Humala, who was in a car behind the truck, added, "The little girl was frozen beside him."

Police said the cause of the accident was under investigation.

They said the boy suffered "severe trauma" and died at Elmhurst Hospital.

The driver stayed at the scene. Police said they arrested him on charges of unlicensed driving, a misdemeanor, and violating safety rules. They identified him as Mauricio Osorio-Palominos, 51, of Newark, N.J.

However, the New Jersey Department of Transportation said he had a proper license for driving the tractor-trailer and the license was in good standing. The NYPD said it's possible to suspend a license in just one state.

No telephone number could immediately be found for the driver's home. It was unclear whether he had a lawyer.

Education Department spokeswoman Margie Feinberg said counselors were sent to the school for students and staff.

Police said they did not know if a crossing guard was assigned to the intersection.

(Copyright 2013 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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