An apparently drunk man holding a baby walked into the line of traffic after arguing with his partner, witnesses say.
Shoppers and bystanders looked on in horror as the man - understood to be the child's father - walked towards the road and into the line of an oncoming car before being struck.
The incident happened near the intersection of Weymouth and Great South Rds, in Manurewa, shortly after 12.30pm.
Daguram Ram, who works at Chaska Sweets and Snacks Restaurant, said he went outside after seeing a man and two women - one of whom was his partner - arguing outside his shop.
"The woman was saying: 'Give me the baby, give me the baby'. But the man said: 'No, she's my baby'."
Mr Ram said as the man walked away with the child, who was awake, he asked the woman what had happened.
"She said: 'He's drunk'. We looked at him walking to the road and the cars were coming and he just walked into the car."
The woman ran towards the pair and snatched the child up in her arms before kicking the man repeatedly as he lay on the ground, Mr Ram said.
"She started screaming and she [was] kicking him."
Another witness, shopkeeper Robin Hassan, told 3News that he had also seen the man step out on to the busy road.
Constable Steve Carey, of Counties Manukau police, said they had been told by several witnesses the man had purposefully walked into the line of traffic after an argument.
"But right now, we're not looking at it as an intentional thing.
"Witnesses have said that and we've been told that he had been drinking, but we will know more when we speak to him [today]."
The road was closed as emergency services attended the scene.
Both the man and the baby - thought to be just over a year old - were rushed to Middlemore Hospital, the man with minor injuries and the child thought to be in a critical condition.
Police later said that her injuries were minor and she was discharged last night, a hospital spokesman said.
Meanwhile, police are also appealing for witnesses to come forward, after the vehicle involved failed to stop after hitting the pair.
Const Carey said police were reviewing CCTV evidence and hoped to identify the driver from that, saying: "It depends on the quality of the CCTV evidence.
"If that's very good, we can take it from there."
- NZ Herald/NZPA
