A five-year-old girl has shot her brother in the head with an airgun after their father turned his back to answer a phonecall.

Rashid Rullah, who is 18 months old, had been playing in his family's back garden with his father and sister when the tragic accident happened on Sunday in Washwood Heath, Birmingham.

His father, handyman Bakht Zaman, was using the gun for target practice moments before the accident.

He then turned his back to answer his mobile phone, having left it loaded in preparation for his next shot.

The boy, whose family is from north-west Pakistan, remains in a critical condition in Birmingham's Children's Hospital.

The boy's grandfather Bakht Rammand, 48, said: "Everybody's in shock. There are no words to describe it really. The whole road loves them."

He said: "The children usually come down here and spend all day, every day with us. When they went home on Sunday they were playing with their dad in the garden.

"He was target practising with the gun and then somebody rang his mobile. The gun was ready to fire and he answered the phone.

"Rashid's sister is really active and she got hold of the gun and pointed it at her brother. He was on the high ground and she was on the low ground. It hit him right in the middle of the back of his head."

Mr Rammand said doctors were unable to operate on the boy as he was still unconscious.

West Midlands Police said the shooting appeared to be a "tragic accident".

Detective Inspector Simon Vowles said: "While we are still trying to establish precisely what happened; this does appear to be a tragic accident involving young children."

© Independent Television News Limited 2009. All rights reserved.