Two "lost boys" spent at least twenty-one minutes trying to cross a motorway on scooters before they were ploughed down by cars, an inquest heard.
Eye-witnesses told how Kieran Coupe and his pal Guy Davies first walked along the M56 in Cheshire, and then tried to cross it, before they were killed.
Passing drivers desperately dialled 999 on mobile phones but were unable to stop to rescue the boys because the hard shoulder was sealed-off in a section of road works.
Kieran, seven, and Guy six, were hit by two cars on the busy motorway close to their homes in Runcorn, Cheshire, in 2007.
North Cheshire Coroner Nicholas Rheinberg was told that the pair were trying to get to their homes on the Murdishaw Estate alongside the road on Wednesday 24th October.
A series of witnesses told how traffic swerved to avoid the the pair as they crossed three lanes of the west-bound carriageway to the central reservation.
Within five minutes they decided to turn round and it was while they attempted to retrace their steps that they were hit by two saloon cars travelling at around 70 mph.
The boys had strayed on to the unlit road soon in pitch darkness at 7pm after they became lost and disorientated in woods where they had been playing earlier in the day.
Guy Davies' mother and father, and Kieran Coupe's father Colin Lambert, were present for the first day of a two-day inquest at Warrington Coroner's Court.
At the start of the hearing Colin Lambert, 33, apologised for the absence of the boy's mother Tammy Coupe, and described his son as an "adventurer."
The court heard that the first 999 call over the boys on the motorway was received at 7.01pm and the fatal impacts happened at 7.22pm
Motorist Paul Wheeler, of Elton near Chester, told how he was heading home along the west-bound carriageway when he spotted the boys.
Telephone operator Mr Wheeler told how he suddenly saw the front wheel of a scooter on the rumble strip next to the inside lane where he travelling at 70mph in heavy traffic.
Mr Wheeler said: "I couldn't change lanes because there was a car to my right, but I moved wide as far as possible. If I hadn't taken evasive action I would definitely have hit him.
"I was so lucky not to hit him. I tried to pull-in immediately but couldn't due to the road works.
"I stopped as soon as I could, shortly after. I noticed three other vehicles in the hard shoulder doing the same thing."
Mr Wheeler said he dialled 999 and the emergency operator said she had already received several calls and police were on their way.
He added: "I offered to get out of my car and try to help them but was told not to and to continue on my journey."
The court heard that many drivers who called 999 were given the same advice - not to attempt a rescue.
Illuminated "matrix warning signs" approaching the scene were flashing with a reduced speed limit set at 50mph
The court heard that two women drivers hit the youngsters' Guy's body was catapulted through the air to drop on the hard shoulder while Kieran's corpse lay the middle lane.
Pc Simon Jordan who was the first police patrol on the scene at 7.22pm - seconds after the impact - said both boys had suffered horrific injuries.
PC Jordan said: "I raced to the scene at 120mph and arrived just seconds after the collision.
"I saw two bodies. One on the central lane and one on the hard shoulder. It was immediately clear that the boy in lane two was dead.
"I headed to the other boy and turned him over but it was obvious from his horrendous injuries that he was also dead.
"A number of motorists were out of their cars and screaming hysterically."
Asked by the coroner what he had expected to find when he answered the call PC Jordan said: "It was only when I arrived at the scene that I realised that these were just young boys.
"The transmission had described 'young males' at the side of the motorway with scooters and I had expected teenagers with powered scooters which may have run out of petrol."
He added that if he had know they were children there was "nothing more" he could have done.
Drivers earlier told how they had spotted the boys in grave danger.
Pensioner Bernard Heaton earlier told how he saw the pair scramble onto the central reservation as he headed towards Chester in his Nissan Pathfinder.
Mr Heaton said: "The car in front of me pulled aside to reveal a silver scooter in the road, thirty to forty feet ahead.
"I took evasive action, braked and swerved to avoid the scooter and a young child emerging from the central reservation to retrieve it.
"I was shocked and in my mirror caught sight of the lad's face. I used my hands-free kit to phone 999.
"I offered to stop but the police said two units has been dispatched and it was too dangerous for me to try to help.
"I wonder now if I could have made all the difference by stopping to help them."
Joanne Clark, from Runcorn, was a front-seat passenger in a car driven by her husband Paul when they saw the boys
Housewife Mrs Clarke said: "When I realised what must have happened I held my head in my hands aghast and screamed at Paul to get out which he did.
"I just feel like we should have done something and if we had we might've been able to save the lives of those children.
"I can't help feeling so guilty."
The inquest was adjourned until 10am tomorrow Tuesday.
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