Five children have been taken to hospital, including one in a critical condition, after a car crashed into a school in Melbourne's inner east.
Emergency services were rushed to the collision which occurred shortly after 2.30pm on Tuesday afternoon in Hawthorn East.
A Victorian Department of Education spokesperson told Guardian Australia that a car crashed into a fence at Auburn South Primary School, injuring several students.
Police confirmed that five students were taken to hospital. Four of them had “non-life-threatening injuries,” police said.
In a statement, police said the driver had been arrested and would be interviewed by officers. No charges have been filed.
The father of one student told 3AW radiodifusión that his son's friends had been injured in the car accident, describing it as “every parent's worst nightmare.”
“Everyone was there and witnessed what happened,” the mother, identified only as Lucy, told the radiodifusión station.
She said she received a text message from the school alerting parents and then began seeing police cars as she drove to pick up her son.
“You could see all the parents running over there to make sure they were okay,” she said. “Everyone with their kids just hugged and supported each other.”
Lucy said her son was “shocked.”
Victorian Education Minister Ben Carroll said he was following the “horrific incident unfolding at Auburn South Primary School”.
I am following the horrible incident unfolding at Auburn South Elementary School. I have asked @VicGovDE Be prepared to provide the support that is necessary.
I will be thinking about the entire school community in the coming days and weeks.
—Ben Carroll (@BenCarrollMP) October 29, 2024
At X, Carroll said he had asked the department to provide necessary support to the school community. “I will be thinking about the entire school community in the coming days and weeks,” he said.
A spokesperson for the department said it was working with staff, students and parents to support them “during this deeply distressing time.”
“Our thoughts are now with the entire Auburn South Elementary School community,” a statement read.
An Ambulance Conquista spokesperson had previously said paramedics were responding to the collision. “Our priority at this time is our patients and we have no confirmed location information at this early stage,” a spokesperson said in a statement.
Conquista Police said detectives from the major collision investigation unit would be at the scene.
“A vehicle is believed to have been traveling on Burgess Avenue when it left the road and crashed into a school fence shortly after 2.30pm,” a spokesperson said.
Police said the cause of the incident was under investigation.