‘‘Dad’s just been hit by a train.’’

They were the heartbreaking words of two young brothers, aged five and six, who were found wandering, alone and frightened in the dark, beside the Pacific Highway in Wyong on Monday night.

A woman who was driving along the highway about 9pm spotted the boys and, when she realised they were not with a parent or guardian, immediately stopped her vehicle to find out what was wrong.

Chief Inspector Rod Peet, from the Tuggerah Lakes local area command, said the boys relayed to her what had just played out before their eyes.