Eight-year-old girl dies after car hits London primary school

An eight-year-old girl has died after a car hit a primary school in Wimbledon, south London, in an incident in which several other children and adults have been injured, the Metropolitan police said.

The incident occurred on Thursday morning on Camp Road, where the private Study preparatory school for girls aged four to 11 is located.

The Met said: “We can now confirm that sadly a child has died following an incident where a car collided with a building at a school in Wimbledon.”

DCS Clair Kelland, the local police commander for south-west London, said: “This is tragic news and our thoughts are with the girl’s family and friends, and everyone affected today.

“We remain at the scene and are continuing our investigation into the full circumstances of the incident.

“We can also confirm that the driver of the vehicle, a woman aged in her 40s, has been arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving.”

A spokesperson for London ambulance service said it dispatched 15 ambulances to the scene. Sixteen patients were treated at the scene and 10 were taken to hospital.

The Wimbledon MP, Stephen Hammond, told the BBC several of those injured were in a critical condition. He said: “Extraordinarily distressing and tragic incident on the last day of term … there has actually been a major incident declared. There are a number of casualties and injuries as we know. I understand, and I don’t know the numbers, but I understand a number of those are being treated as critical.”

The school sits on Wimbledon Common, a mile from the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, which is hosting the world-famous annual tennis tournament.

An earlier Met police statement said: “At this time nine people are reported injured, these include two adults and seven children. We await further updates on their conditions. The driver of the vehicle stopped at the scene. There have been no arrests.”

TV aerial footage from the scene appeared to show the vehicle was a Land Rover, which had crossed a grassed area in the school grounds where it is understood a picnic may have been being held. Footage showed what appeared to be a large mat and a table in the grassed area.

Earlier, police said: “We were called at 9.54am to reports that a car collided with a building at the school. Several people are being treated at the scene. We will share further updates when we can.”

In later tweets, it said: “We are not treating this incident as terror-related. An investigation is under way to understand the full circumstances of what has taken place.”

Fire crews were also at the school. The London fire brigade said on Twitter: “We are currently supporting emergency services at an incident at a school in Wimbledon. We have two fire engines and two fire rescue units at the scene.”

The London ambulance service said on Twitter: “We are currently supporting emergency services at an ongoing incident at a school in Camp Road, Wimbledon.” London air ambulance was also present, Sky News reported.

Hammond tweeted: “Very concerned to hear about the Study Preparatory School at Camp Road this morning. A major incident has been declared and I know all emergency services are on site. My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone at The Study.”

He told BBC News: “It’s extremely distressing and extremely concerning. There are a number of casualties, I’m not sure how many.” He described the location as “really quite remote”, adding it was about a mile from Wimbledon village and on the way to nearby golf clubs.

Tweets from Wimbledon and Putney Commons urged the public to stay away from the area around the school.

They said: “Following an incident at the edge of the Common on Camp Road, the public are asked to avoid that area of the Commons to allow free access to the emergency services. Thank you. Emergency vehicles are likely to be using the Commons to get to the location so please be alert to what is happening and follow instructions from our staff.”