One child killed after car ploughs into London primary school
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Police said they were not treating the incident, at the private Study Prep girls’ school in Wimbledon, as terror-related.
PHOTO: AFP
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LONDON - A girl was killed, and several other children were injured on Thursday after a car ploughed into a primary school building in south-west London, triggering a major response by emergency services.
The crash at the private Study Prep girls’ school in Wimbledon, was not being treated by police as terror-related, and the driver – a woman in her 40s who stopped at the scene – was arrested.
She was detained on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving, London’s Metropolitan Police said, confirming the death of the child.
Earlier, the force said seven children and two adults were injured in the crash, and the local MP said he understood several casualties were “being treated as critical”.
Mr Stephen Hammond described the crash as “extraordinarily distressing and tragic”.
Aerial footage of the scene – not far from where the Wimbledon tennis tournament was taking place – showed a Land Rover car stopped at an angle against the wall of the modern school building.
The vehicle was in a grassy area near what appeared to be coloured play mats and a table.
The police, ambulance and fire service were called to the scene in Camp Road, near Wimbledon Common, after the incident just before 10am (5pm Singapore time).
Witnesses and reporters at the scene said the road outside the school was narrow, and it would normally have been difficult to build up any speed on it.
The Study Prep school takes in girls aged four to 11. It is split into several sites, with the youngest pupils taught in Camp Road, near the Royal Wimbledon Golf Club.
Thursday was the last day of term for children aged four to eight, according to the school’s website.
Health Minister Steve Barclay called the incident “distressing”.
“My thoughts are with those sadly injured and everyone who has been affected,” he added.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan called it “absolutely devastating”.
As well as police, crews from London Fire Brigade, London Ambulance Service and the London Air Ambulance were all called to deal with the incident. AFP
