CANBERRA, March 28 (Xinhua) -- Two children have been hospitalized with severe injuries after being hit by a stolen vehicle outside a school in Canberra.

Police in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) said that two boys aged 15 and 14 were struck by a green station wagon outside a secondary school in the inner-Canberra suburb of Griffith shortly after 9 a.m. local time on Friday.

The two boys were treated at the scene by ambulance paramedics before being taken to Canberra Hospital with severe injuries.

Speaking at a press conference on Friday afternoon, ACT Policing Deputy Inspector Mark Steel said that one of the boys was undergoing surgery, with the other in a serious condition.

"This is a tragedy. Our thoughts and hearts go out to the boys and the family of those boys and the wider community," Steel said.

He said the vehicle was stolen from a childcare center in the small village of Sutton in New South Wales near the ACT border at about 7:40 a.m. and entered the ACT shortly after 9 a.m.

Steel said the vehicle collided with "a number of cars" before hitting the two boys and continued for several hundred meters before crashing outside a church.

The 31-year-old male driver attempted to flee the scene but was apprehended by members of the public, Steel said, and taken to hospital under police guard.

An eight-year-old girl was inside the vehicle when it was stolen but was let out of the vehicle a short time later and was unharmed. Enditem

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