Key Points
- Five teenagers have been killed in a horror road road smash in Buxton, southwest of Sydney.
- An 18-year-old man has been taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
A high school in Sydney's southwest is reeling with pain over the deaths of the five teenagers who were killed in a horror road smash on Tuesday night.
All five teenagers who died were students at Picton High School, on what has been described as a "deeply distressing" day for the entire local community.
Police confirmed two girls aged 14 and one 15, and two boys aged 15 and 16, were killed in the accident.
"The playground, recess, lunch, siblings, peers, interactions outside of school impact on all of our students. It's deeply distressing news," the NSW Department of Education's deputy secretary Murat Dizdar told reporters on Wednesday.
Tributes to the victims of a car accident are laid at the crash site in Buxton. Source: AAP / Jane Dempster
Witness Mary Pace said the car was "completely mangled", adding: "At first, we didn’t realise there was another person in the car until he started yelling out ‘help help’.
"We tried to contain him in the car because we didn’t know if he had any injuries, but he ended up getting himself out. You couldn’t tell where the front of the back of the car was."
Mr Dizdar said a special counselling team will be provided to teachers who have treated the students - who have been attending the school since Year 7 - like their own children.
"They become like their own children inside the school gates. They take deep care and attention of those young learners. That's why we realise as a department the enormity of impact they will be experiencing."
The driver, 18, was a green P licence holder and passed his breathalyser test after being taken to Liverpool hospital, where he is being treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
Friends of those involved in a fatal car accident embrace as the community is left reeling from the tragedy. Source: AAP / Jane Dempster
Six people were seated in the four-seated vehicle and the police's preliminary investigations believe "speed was a possible factor" in the cause of the crash.
"Obviously, having six people in a 4-seater vehicle is inherently dangerous and it should not be done," Jason Hogan of the NSW Police Investigation Action unit said.
"The drivers are the drivers. The drivers need to take responsibility in all circumstances for their manner of driving to keep themselves, their passengers, and other road users in NSW safe," he said.
"I would appeal to all drivers to just take that second thought about what their actions could ultimately lead up to."
Camden police superintendent Paul Fuller said it was the worst crash scene he has seen in the 38 years of his career.
"It’s a horrific accident scene and a traumatic event like this will have a devastating impact on the families, friends and the local community," he told reporters.
"They're all local kids, they all go to the local high school," he told reporters.
Camden Superintendant Paul Fuller said it was the worst accident scene he has seen in his career. Source: ABC Australia
Fire and Rescue NSW Superintendent Adam Dewberry described the scene as absolutely chaotic and devastating.
"All of the emergency services, police, ambulance, [were] confronted with a significant, critical, traumatic scene," he said.
How do you even begin to process a loss like this?Mayor Matt Gould
Wollondilly Shire Mayor Matt Gould said the close-knit community was waking up in shock and mourning.
"How do you even begin to process a loss like this?" he told Sydney radio 2GB.
"Our hearts go out to all of the families, all of the friends of those involved."
Police said the driver had been taken to Sydney's Liverpool Hospital where he had undergone mandatory blood and urine tests. He had not been placed under arrest.
Investigators are appealing for anyone with dashcam footage or information about the incident to contact them.
A NSW Department of Education spokesperson said: "The Picton High School community is devastated by the death of five young people in a vehicle accident last night.
"Our thoughts and deepest condolences are with the families and friends of the young people who lost their lives."
With AAP.
