STANHOPE - A 2-year-old boy tragically died Monday morning after being struck by a dump truck in front of the boy’s home on Route 206 North.

The accident, which was reported at about 10:40 a.m., took place a short distance from the intersection with Acorn Street near the Stanhope-Byram border and led to the closure of the highway in both directions until just after 4 p.m.

Stanhope Mayor Rosemarie Maio, in a brief phone conversation late Monday, said she was briefed about the accident by Stanhope police earlier in the day and was told the Sussex County Prosecutor’s Office is overseeing the investigation, as is customary whenever a fatality is involved.

Stanhope Police Sgt. William Heater, in a statement late Monday, said two Good Samaritan motorists had already begun performing CPR on the child when police arrived, whereupon officers from Stanhope and Byram assisted them in administering CPR while waiting for volunteers from the Lakeland Emergency Squad to arrive.

The boy was then transported by a Lakeland Emergency Squad ambulance to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead at the scene.

The boy’s death was confirmed to the New Jersey Herald later in the day by a family member who was gathered with several neighbors, who requested privacy for the family.

Further details were not immediately available from the Prosecutor’s Office.

However, Heater said the driver of the dump truck was not detained.

As the evening rush hour was beginning, a woman was spotted laying a wreath by a shrine where a small cross and a teddy bear had been laid in front of the boy’s home where the accident occurred.

Stanhope and Byram police were assisted in responding to the accident by the Netcong and Roxbury police departments, the Stanhope and Byram volunteer fire departments, the Sussex County Sheriff’s Office, and the New Jersey State Police.

The state Department of Transportation also assisted in overseeing the road’s closure for more than five hours while accident investigators remained on the scene.

Eric Obernauer can also be reached on Twitter: @EricObernNJH or by phone at 973-383-1213.