KILGORE, Texas (AP) - Authorities say two pit bulls fatally mauled a 10-year-old boy in East Texas.

The Rusk County Sheriff's Office says witnesses reported seeing the dogs drag Justin Clinton down the side of the road Monday in the small community of Leverett's Chapel.

Tyler television station KLTV reports that a passing motorist pulled the animals off the boy.

The fourth-grader was pronounced dead at a Longview hospital.

Justin's great-aunt, Carolyn Spence, tells the Longview News-Journal that the family ``just can't believe it.''

The Rev. Edwin Findley, acting as spokesman for the family that owns the dogs, says both families have been hurt.

Sheriff's deputies are investigating.

Rusk County Animal Control has the dogs