Five teenagers have been killed in a devastating single-vehicle crash in Sydney’s southwest.
Emergency services were called to the scene along East Parade at the suburb of Buxton just after 8pm on Tuesday following reports a Nissan Navara had lost control and ploughed into a tree.
The passengers, three girls, two aged 14 and a 15-year-old, and two boys, aged 15 and 16, all died at the scene.
The driver, an 18-year-old man, suffered non-life threatening injuries and was taken to Liverpool hospital.
Police are investigating the cause of the crash, although they don’t believe alcohol was involved.
While police are yet to release the identities of the victims, it’s understood they all attended Picton High School.
“I’ve been in the police for 38 years and it’s one of the worst accident scenes I’ve ever come across,” Superintendent Paul Fuller said.
In a community as small as Buxton where Picton High is the only public high school in the area, Fuller said it’s likely some emergency workers would have recognised the victims.
“It’s a horrific scene, and unfortunately some of the first responders would know these kids.”
“We had a family liaison officer there from the crash investigation unit who worked with the families trying to identify these children,” he told 2GB’s Ben Fordham.
Wollondilly Shire Mayor Matt Gould called the incident “absolutely horrific” in a Facebook post on Wednesday morning.
“Our entire shire has woken up in shock and mourning following the absolutely horrific accident at Buxton overnight,” he wrote.
“The loss of so many young lives is just devastating and you can’t put into words the overwhelming loss many in our community are feeling.”
“Wollondilly always pulls together in tragedy and sadly we need to do it again now.”
Image credits: 7News
