An 11-year-old boy has died after a woman drove her car through the fence of a primary school in Hawthorn East, Melbourne.
It’s understood a driver suffered a medical episode before ploughing through the fence of the Auburn South Primary School on Tooronga Road, in the city’s inner east, at about 2.30pm on Tuesday.
The young boy was rushed to hospital with critical injuries, but doctors were unable to save his life.
Two 11-year-old girls, a 10-year-old girl and a 10-year-old boy are also in hospital with serious injuries.
The children had been sitting on a bench in the playground during afternoon tea when they are believed to have been struck.
The female driver of the car has been arrested and is currently being interviewed, Victoria Police said.
‘The driver, a 40-year-old Hawthorn East woman, was arrested at the scene and is currently in custody,’ a police spokeswoman said.
‘Her passenger, a primary school aged child, was not injured.’
It’s understood the driver suffered a medical episode before ploughing through the fence of the Auburn South Primary School on Tooronga Road, on Tuesday afternoon
Emergency services remain at the scene
It has been reported the driver had collected a child from the school and was leaving before she lost control of the car and hit a table where the five children were sitting.
The vehicle had a green P-plate on it, but the woman’s licence status is not yet clear.
Inspector Craig McEvoy spoke to the crash on Tuesday evening, revealing the driver was attempting a U-turn before veering off the road and ploughing through the fence.
‘These events are always hard where there’s death and serious injury, but especially difficult when there’s children involved,’ Insp McEvoy said, according to the ABC.
He said detectives had already taken statements from school staff and nearby parents.
Police haven’t yet decided whether the school will need to remain closed for a longer period of time until later on Tuesday evening.
‘The ongoing investigation will take days, weeks, months,’ Insp McEvoy said.
A mother of one boy at the school said the children were playing outside during a recess break when the car careened through the fence.
‘They were all out there and witnessed it happen,’ Lucy told 3AW Drive in between tears.
‘(My son) witnessed it and now he doesn’t want to go to school.
‘He is trying to look at the news and uncover what’s happened to his friends.’
Lucy said she received a text from the school telling parents Burgess Street was closed before hearing sirens and seeing multiple police cars.
‘So I just raced down there and you could see all the parents racing down there to make sure their kids are OK,’ she said.
‘Everyone was just hugging each other and supporting each other.’
Emergency services were called to the scene just after 2.30pm on Tuesday
Victoria’s education minister, Ben Carrol, extended his sympathies to those affected by the ‘terrible incident’.
‘I’ve asked (the Department of Education) to be on standby to provide whatever supports are needed,’ Mr Carroll wrote on X.
‘I’ll be thinking of the whole school community in the days and weeks ahead.’
One local business owner, Guy, said he rushed to the ‘chaotic’ scene to offer assistance.
‘There were some kids that are very, very frightened, not themselves,’ he told ABC Radio Melbourne.
The Department of Education earlier said police had set up roadblocks in the area which would affect parents collecting students from the school.
They said another nearby school would also be affected.
A white car was seen in the school playground, with its front bumper clearly damaged as police cordoned off the area.
Burgess Street in between Tooronga and Auburn roads is blocked off.
A Victoria Police spokesperson said the cause of the crash is being investigated, with Major Collision Investigation Unit detectives at the scene.
Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
More to come
