Victoria Police provide an update on October 29 of the car crash at Auburn South Primary School.
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00:00A vehicle has collided into the grounds of a primary school.
00:03Major Collision Investigation Unit detectives are here on scene now processing it.
00:07Still in the really infinite stages of the investigation to understand what has occurred.
00:13What I can tell you at this point in time is that a 40-year-old female has driven to
00:19the school to collect a child. After collecting the child she's performed a U-turn and collided
00:26into the fence of the school, crashing through the fence, where unfortunately she has struck a
00:31table where there were five children seated within the school grounds. Very tragically and sadly,
00:37one of those children has passed away whilst being conveyed to hospital. The other four
00:43children have been conveyed to hospital undergoing treatment for their injuries also.
00:47At this point in time, as I say, the investigation is ongoing. We have major collision
00:53investigation here. The state coroner is currently here having an assessment of the scene
00:58and it's really infinite at the moment. Initial stages of the investigation to try to determine
01:03what has actually taken place. The 40-year-old female is in custody. She's been interviewed
01:09by detectives as we speak. It's a tragic circumstance. It's really tough for everybody
01:15involved from the community, the school community, the locals, the first responders, Ambo Police.
01:22It's really tough. These events are always hard where there's death and serious injury,
01:28but especially difficult when there's children involved. So that's what I know at this point
01:32in time. I'm happy to take some questions. However, I will be limited in what I can say
01:36because the investigation is only just commencing. Does this seem like a tragic accident?
01:42Again, I can't say, but it appears it is a tragic accident. Yes.
01:46What about the tests being conducted?
01:50It is all being conducted and all ongoing.
01:52Can you just confirm what happens with this child in the car?
01:57I don't have those details with me yet.
02:00How is the 40-year-old woman being interviewed?
02:03She's uninjured and she's at the police station now being interviewed.
02:06I haven't had an update yet in regards to her condition,
02:10her emotional state or anything like that as yet.
02:12Have you been talking about how many people were around when you saw this?
02:16I wasn't here at the time, so I can't say how many people were here.
02:19Statements are being taken from lots of teachers, principals,
02:24witnesses, parents, everybody involved. It was around 2.30 in the afternoon.
02:28Was the woman at the school an assisting child?
02:31I don't know the fine detail of the amount of children she has at school.
02:35Can we also just ask, in terms of, I suppose, how you look at this going forward,
02:43how long do you think people are going to be here in this area?
02:47We'll be here as long as we need to be to conduct a thorough investigation to try to understand
02:51the full circumstances of what's taken place.
02:53Are you expecting any charges to be laid?
02:55It's too early at this point in time to tell.
02:56How are the members doing?
02:58They're getting there. They're soldiering on. It's a, as I said before,
03:01really tough scene, always when children are involved,
03:04but we'll put the support around them that we need to
03:07and look after them as best we can too.
03:09You were talking about witnesses.
03:10Were they to the actual crash and were any of those witnesses other children?
03:16All those statements are still being taken and we've got to go through all that with
03:18a fine tooth comb to understand the full extent of what's been seen and what's been witnessed.
03:23Was the woman a pea plant?
03:26I believe so. Sorry, I don't know. I can't confirm that.
03:30The vehicle had a green pea plant on it, but I don't know her licence status as yet.
03:35Are you hopeful that CCTV and neighbours might be able to help?
03:38We'll investigate every opportunity we have. CCTV, dash cam, witnesses,
03:44any footage. If anybody has anything, please come forward and assist us with our investigation.
03:48Did everyone inside that car, the driver and the car neighbours, extract themselves?
03:52I don't know the extent of how they've been extracted from the vehicle,
03:55but my understanding is that there's no significant injuries to both
03:59the defending driver and the child in the car.
04:02And are your statements that the woman suffered a medical episode?
04:06Still yet to be determined. Don't know the circumstances.
04:10And obviously you say you'll be here as long as you need to, but
04:14you've obviously got a lot of experience in these sort of incidents.
04:18How long do you think this investigation will take in terms of...
04:21Well into the evening.
04:23...for the scene processing? Well into the evening,
04:25but the ongoing investigation will take days, weeks, months.
04:29Just a tragic accident for everyone involved? Pretty confronting for everyone?
04:33Confronting for everybody. Yeah, it's a tough circumstance when kids are involved.
04:38Adds that additional element to the scene.
04:40For the time that police need to be here, does the school need to be closed?
04:44The school's closed. We're engaging with the school, Department of Education.
04:47All the parents, my understanding is all the parents of the school have been informed of
04:50the circumstances and obviously we'll engage with the school and continue to do that moving forward.
05:01That'll be up to Ambulance Victoria to comment on, sorry.
05:03So my understanding is they're all being treated in hospital.
05:06Do you anticipate the school needs to be closed going into tomorrow?
05:10That'll eventuate this evening, so we're yet to determine.
05:14Thank you all.
05:20you