Two children killed and three badly injured after car crashes into classroom in Sydney

Our Foreign Staff
Updated
New South Wales emergency services personnel and police inspect a vehicle that crashed into a primary school classroom in the Sydney suburb of Greenacre - REUTERS
New South Wales emergency services personnel and police inspect a vehicle that crashed into a primary school classroom in the Sydney suburb of Greenacre - REUTERS

Two eight-year-old boys were killed and another three children badly hurt after a car crashed into a classroom in Sydney on Tuesday, Australian police said.

A sports utility vehicle smashed through the wooden wall of the school in Sydney's west, where 24 primary-age children were in class with their teacher, police said in a statement.

Five children were rushed to hospital, including the two deceased boys. Three girls, two aged eight and another aged nine, were in a serious or stable condition in hospital. Another 16 children and their teacher were treated for minor injuries.

Local TV images showed the car punched through the wall and stopped completely inside the classroom, which is adorned with children's drawings and pictures.

"Obviously it was a scene of carnage," New South Wales state Ambulance Superintendent Stephanie Radnidge told reporters outside the school.

A man carries a child near where a vehicle crashed into a primary school classroom in the Sydney suburb of Greenacre - Credit: Reuters
A man carries a child near where a vehicle crashed into a primary school classroom in the Sydney suburb of Greenacre Credit: Reuters

New South Wales Police Acting Assistant Commissioner Stuart Smith said police were "not looking at this as an intentional act, it is a crash investigation".

NSW Ambulance Superintendent Stephanie Radnidge said the children who died had "multiple traumas".

"It is very, very hard because we are parents ourselves," she was quoted as saying by ABC News.

A woman hugs her son near where a vehicle crashed into a primary school classroom in the Sydney suburb of Greenacre - Credit: Reuters
A woman hugs her son near where a vehicle crashed into a primary school classroom in the Sydney suburb of Greenacre Credit: Reuters

"We are human beings. But we are highly trained and the best care was delivered this morning to those injured at this site."

Police said the driver was a 52-year-old woman who was not hurt but was taken to hospital for blood and urine tests as part of the crash investigation.