One child dead and several injured after car crashes in to Melbourne primary school

Australian Community Media

Victoria Police provide an update on October 29 of the car crash at Auburn South Primary School.

Transcript

00:00A vehicle has collided into the grounds of a primary school.

00:03Major Collision Investigation Unit detectives are here on scene now processing it.

00:07Still in the really infinite stages of the investigation to understand what has occurred.

00:13What I can tell you at this point in time is that a 40-year-old female has driven to

00:19the school to collect a child. After collecting the child she's performed a U-turn and collided

00:26into the fence of the school, crashing through the fence, where unfortunately she has struck a

00:31table where there were five children seated within the school grounds. Very tragically and sadly,

00:37one of those children has passed away whilst being conveyed to hospital. The other four

00:43children have been conveyed to hospital undergoing treatment for their injuries also.

00:47At this point in time, as I say, the investigation is ongoing. We have major collision

00:53investigation here. The state coroner is currently here having an assessment of the scene

00:58and it's really infinite at the moment. Initial stages of the investigation to try to determine

01:03what has actually taken place. The 40-year-old female is in custody. She's been interviewed

01:09by detectives as we speak. It's a tragic circumstance. It's really tough for everybody

01:15involved from the community, the school community, the locals, the first responders, Ambo Police.

01:22It's really tough. These events are always hard where there's death and serious injury,

01:28but especially difficult when there's children involved. So that's what I know at this point

01:32in time. I'm happy to take some questions. However, I will be limited in what I can say

01:36because the investigation is only just commencing. Does this seem like a tragic accident?

01:42Again, I can't say, but it appears it is a tragic accident. Yes.

01:46What about the tests being conducted?

01:50It is all being conducted and all ongoing.

01:52Can you just confirm what happens with this child in the car?

01:57I don't have those details with me yet.

02:00How is the 40-year-old woman being interviewed?

02:03She's uninjured and she's at the police station now being interviewed.

02:06I haven't had an update yet in regards to her condition,

02:10her emotional state or anything like that as yet.

02:12Have you been talking about how many people were around when you saw this?

02:16I wasn't here at the time, so I can't say how many people were here.

02:19Statements are being taken from lots of teachers, principals,

02:24witnesses, parents, everybody involved. It was around 2.30 in the afternoon.

02:28Was the woman at the school an assisting child?

02:31I don't know the fine detail of the amount of children she has at school.

02:35Can we also just ask, in terms of, I suppose, how you look at this going forward,

02:43how long do you think people are going to be here in this area?

02:47We'll be here as long as we need to be to conduct a thorough investigation to try to understand

02:51the full circumstances of what's taken place.

02:53Are you expecting any charges to be laid?

02:55It's too early at this point in time to tell.

02:56How are the members doing?

02:58They're getting there. They're soldiering on. It's a, as I said before,

03:01really tough scene, always when children are involved,

03:04but we'll put the support around them that we need to

03:07and look after them as best we can too.

03:09You were talking about witnesses.

03:10Were they to the actual crash and were any of those witnesses other children?

03:16All those statements are still being taken and we've got to go through all that with

03:18a fine tooth comb to understand the full extent of what's been seen and what's been witnessed.

03:23Was the woman a pea plant?

03:26I believe so. Sorry, I don't know. I can't confirm that.

03:30The vehicle had a green pea plant on it, but I don't know her licence status as yet.

03:35Are you hopeful that CCTV and neighbours might be able to help?

03:38We'll investigate every opportunity we have. CCTV, dash cam, witnesses,

03:44any footage. If anybody has anything, please come forward and assist us with our investigation.

03:48Did everyone inside that car, the driver and the car neighbours, extract themselves?

03:52I don't know the extent of how they've been extracted from the vehicle,

03:55but my understanding is that there's no significant injuries to both

03:59the defending driver and the child in the car.

04:02And are your statements that the woman suffered a medical episode?

04:06Still yet to be determined. Don't know the circumstances.

04:10And obviously you say you'll be here as long as you need to, but

04:14you've obviously got a lot of experience in these sort of incidents.

04:18How long do you think this investigation will take in terms of...

04:21Well into the evening.

04:23...for the scene processing? Well into the evening,

04:25but the ongoing investigation will take days, weeks, months.

04:29Just a tragic accident for everyone involved? Pretty confronting for everyone?

04:33Confronting for everybody. Yeah, it's a tough circumstance when kids are involved.

04:38Adds that additional element to the scene.

04:40For the time that police need to be here, does the school need to be closed?

04:44The school's closed. We're engaging with the school, Department of Education.

04:47All the parents, my understanding is all the parents of the school have been informed of

04:50the circumstances and obviously we'll engage with the school and continue to do that moving forward.

05:01That'll be up to Ambulance Victoria to comment on, sorry.

05:03So my understanding is they're all being treated in hospital.

05:06Do you anticipate the school needs to be closed going into tomorrow?

05:10That'll eventuate this evening, so we're yet to determine.

05:14Thank you all.

05:20you

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