The father of a teenager killed by a lorry as she walked to school with her friends has told how his daughter had a “smile that would melt hearts”.
Lavna Chuttoo, 13, was hit by a lorry after she slipped while crossing the road near to New Malden station on Tuesday morning.
The teenager, who had recently moved with her family to Acton, was usually driven to Coome Girls' School each day by her father but chose to take the train on Tuesday with her friends.
The tragic accident happened at 8.30am as fellow students made their way to the school just yards away.
Passers-by and paramedics battled to save the teenager but she was pronounced dead at the scene.
Paying tribute, her father Chetan Chuttoo said: “She was a character because her school always told me even when she was wrong, she always gave a smile and that made the teacher not actually penalise her.
"She had that sort of smile where anybody, it would melt their hearts.
“She was very hard-working. Last week, she told me she got A in French. She has done so well. I am bilingual and she is not. She’s done so well and I was so proud of her.”
He added: “All of the messages I got from her school, from friends, from people who know her, it was a massive shock. I never knew that so many people knew her.
“Some did approach me and said I’ve seen her, such a bubbly, lovely, always laughing and cheerful girl.”
