Ghaziabad, Jan 26 - A four-year-old student was badly injured Thursday when he was attacked and mauled by a stray dog while going to his school for Republic Day celebrations, police said. His condition was said to be critical.

According to police, Munosh, a class 1 student of a local public school in Murad Nagar, was walking to school with his siblings, Muskaan, 6 and Moin, 8, studying in the same school, when the incident occurred.

"Around 9.45 am, as he was about to reach the school, a stray dog pounced upon Munosh and bit his face. Within seconds, it mauled his entire face. After attacking him, the dog attacked his siblings too but they managed to escape," a Murad Nagar police official said.

"Munosh could not run away and collapsed on the ground. On seeing him, the locals, armed with sticks, arrived at the spot and rescued Munosh. They rushed him to the district hospital in a badly injured state from where he was referred to a hospital in Delhi," the official said.(IANS)