According to the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM), the girl was hit around 8 a.m. by a car at the intersection of Parthenais and Rouen streets, a hundred meters from an elementary school.
The driver of the vehicle immediately fled, leaving the child seriously injured on the road.
Several children and teenagers watched helplessly at the scene.
Employees of the CLSC des Faubourgs, located nearby, went out into the street with medical equipment to provide first aid to the young victim, while waiting for help.
The little girl was rushed to hospital. The news of his death was transmitted in the early evening of Tuesday.
A 40-year-old man is questioned by the police.
A security perimeter had been established at the intersection of rue Parthenais and rue de Rouen in order to allow investigators and reconstructionists of the SPVM to learn more about the circumstances of the accident.
Hit and run in Montreal
So far this year, the SPVM has counted one hit-and-run causing death and 22 having caused serious injuries.
By comparison, there were 2 hit-and-runs causing death last year and 11 causing serious injury.
As of Tuesday evening, and until December 20, all neighborhood police stations SPVM will take part in an awareness operation with the aim of preventing other fatal or serious collisions.
The police, who will focus on intersections, will target the end-of-day rush hour. The analysis of the statistics compiled by the SPVM shows that the majority of recent bodily injury collisions occurred less than five meters from an intersection or directly at it.
With information from Pascal Robidas and Jacaudrey Charbonneau