An Aberdeenshire woman has died after being hit by a lorry during a trip to the north of Scotland.
Margaret Ritchie, of Inverurie, was killed as she crossed a busy road in Nairn town centre.
It is believed the 80-year-old was on a shopping trip when the tragedy happened near the pedestrian crossing on Academy Street.
Another 82-year-old woman was also hit by the vehicle, and remains in Raigmore Hospital in a serious, but stable condition.
The male driver of the lorry was uninjured.
Ms Ritchie’s family were too upset to talk about the tragedy last night.
The incident happened on Academy Street – which is part of the busy A96 Inverness to Aberdeen road – on Thursday.
Last night Inverurie councillor Bryan Stuart said his thoughts were with the dead woman’s family, and said it was a “regrettable” incident.
“I know Nairn fairly well,” he said. “It is a very unfortunate incident. It is a fairly quiet town, although it does have a lot of traffic going through it with the A96.
“But something like that is always a shock to the family and the people who are close to here. It is very regrettable.
“Nairn is quiet apart from the main road. I don’t know what must have happened. It is certainly not what you’d expect to happen in a place like that.”
Specialist road policing officers kept the road closed for nearly six hours on Thursday evening to investigate the cause of the accident.
Yesterday a police spokesman said that the investigation was ongoing.
He added: “At around 3.30pm yesterday on Thursday, police in Nairn received a report of a serious road traffic collision involving a heavy goods vehicle and two female pedestrians, near to the pedestrian crossing on Academy Street in the town centre.
“Sadly, one of the women died as a result of injuries sustained in the collision.
“The other woman, aged 82, was taken to Raigmore Hospital with serious injuries, where she remains in a stable condition.
The male driver of the HGV was not injured.”
Anyone with information should call 101.