A community in Melbourne, Australia, is reeling after a tragic car crash occurred during school pickup. The incident happened when a mom who was picking her child up from school was evidently not being mindful of her surroundings. She unintentionally hit a table full of young students, killing one and injuring four.
While police arrested the mom who caused the accident, the community at large is coming together to support one another after the unthinkable tragedy.
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The incident happened during the after-school bustle.
According to police, the 40-year-old mom had picked her child up near Auburn South Primary School in Melbourne around 2:30 p.m., The Independent reported. The car somehow veered off the road, causing the mom to crash into a table where five students were sitting. One 11-year-old boy was injured and died from those injuries in the hospital. Two 11-year-old girls, one 10-year-old girl, and a 10-year-old boy, have serious injuries. The mother and her child, who was in the car’s passenger seat, were unharmed.
The police say it was an accident.
Speaking with reporters, Craig McEvoy, Victoria Police spokesperson, said the incident “appears” to be “a tragic accident.”
“A 40-year-old female has driven to the school to collect a child, after collecting the child, she’s performed a U-turn, and [crashed] into the fence of the school,” he said. “Unfortunately, she has struck a table where there were five children seated within the school grounds. Very tragically and sadly, one of those children has passed away while being conveyed to hospital.” The mother was arrested at the scene of the car accident and questioned by police.
The Department of Education is offering support to the school community.
Australia’s 7NEWS shared a statement provided by a spokesperson from the Australian Department of Education about the car accident. “Our thoughts are right now with the entire Auburn South Primary School community,” the statement began. “We are working closely with staff, students and parents of the school to support them during this deeply distressing time. We will provide further information as soon as we can.”
Minister for Education Ben Carroll, also released a statement on X (formerly Twitter), offering “thoughts and heartfelt condolences” to the families of the children harmed.
Other high-ranking officials offered statements as well.
In a statement on X, Victoria Premier Jacinta Allan offered her own sympathies to the families affected, calling the car accident a “dark shadow.”
“I’m sending my love and thoughts to the students, their families and the whole school community,” she wrote. “I know tonight Victorians will be thinking of Auburn South Primary, and holding our kids even closer.”
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The student was identified as the community continues to mourn.
Jack Davey was the 11-year-old who died. Families were lined up to pay tribute to the boy, with one note calling him a “darling boy who has passed into this next life,” according to The Guardian.
On the morning after the crash, Marcus Wicher, the school’s principal, spoke with media about the tragic incident. “We are entirely focused, as a community, on the welfare of our students, staff and [the] broader school community,” he said, calling the community’s response “overwhelming,” The Guardian reported. “This school community is so wonderful and strong, and together we will get through this.”
