Mother crashes car through Australian school fence, killing a child and injuring 4 others

Victoria Police establish a crime scene outside of Auburn South Primary School, Tooronga Rd, Hawthorn East, in Melbourne, Australia, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024. (Joel Carrett/AAP Image via AP)

MELBOURNE, Australia -

A mother collecting a child crashed a car through a Melbourne school fence on Tuesday, fatally injuring one child and leaving four others seriously hurt, police said.

The 40-year-old mother had collected a child from the Auburn South Primary School and was making a U-turn on the road outside when she crashed through a fence and into an outdoor table where five children were seated after 2:30 p.m. local time, Police Insp. Craig McEvoy said.

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“It appears it is a tragic accident,” McEvoy told reporters.

An 11-year-old boy was taken to hospital with critical injuries and later died, a police statement said.

Two girls, aged 11, a 10-year-old girl and a 10-year-old boy were taken to hospital with serious injuries, police said.

The driver was arrested at the scene and remained in custody, police said. Neither she nor her student passenger was injured.

Police were questioning the mother, McEvoy said but had no further updates. Specialist accident investigation detectives were at the scene gathering evidence.

Video showed the station wagon with obvious damage to its front-left fender had came to a halt after passing through a shade-cloth covered recreation area.