Wimbledon car crash: Seven kids and two adults injured in primary school accident

Pupils as young as four were enjoying an outdoor tea party when a Land Rover crashed into the outside of their school, leaving at least nine people injured, it has emerged.

A major incident has been declared following the horror collision, which occurred on the final day of term at The Study Prep school on Camp Road, Wimbledon, at just before 10am. 

Pictures from the scene show how tables and chairs were crushed by the 4×4 when it collided into the exterior wall of the main hall just as teachers and students were celebrating breaking up for the summer holidays. 

The vehicle crashed into Wilberforce House, a separate building which is used to teach children from Reception to Year 3, ranging from four to eight years old. 

The driver is believed to have been a woman who suffered a ‘medical incident’ while behind the wheel. 

The Metropolitan Police said the motorist ‘stopped at the scene’ and there have been no arrests, but an investigation to understand the ‘full circumstances’ is underway. 

A local resident told MailOnline that he was told a woman had suffered a seizure before crashing. It is believed the driver had been leaving the nearby Royal Wimbledon Golf Club when the accident took place.

Worried parents rushed to the school and one couple were seen escorting their daughter, who was wearing a blue school uniform dress, to their car.

At least 20 ambulances were at the scene with the road leading to the school closed off by a police cordon.

Local residents said they feared there had been a terror attack as emergency vehicles converged on the scene.

One resident said he received an email from the Royal Wimbledon Golf Club telling him not to come near the course.

He told MailOnline:’ With the Wimbledon tennis taking place the first thought when you see so many police cars and ambulances that there is some sort of attack.

‘The way the country is at the moment with all the oil protests on the streets you never know what is going on.

‘I’ve never seen so many police here and when there are that many you think it’s terror related.’

Almost three hours after the incident ambulances began to leave along with several fire crews.

Speaking to the PA news agency, Wimbledon MP Stephen Hammond said: ‘Since being declared by the local police a major incident, you’ve seen that we’ve had fire, air ambulance, ambulance and police on the scene.

‘It appears just before 10 o’clock today, the police were called to the incident that a Range Rover drove into the school.

‘There are a number of people who are critically injured as I understand it and given the scale of the response from emergency services… this is a very serious incident.’

He added that the school is a ‘very well-known and family-based school’.

‘It’s a local prep school having girls between the ages of four and eight,’ Mr Hammond added.

The Conservative MP said where the school is located ‘generally will be regarded as an area where you wouldn’t see very much speeding’.

The London Air Ambulance earlier told the BBC that ‘a fair amount of resources’ were called to the area, including ‘response officers’ and a ‘hazardous area response unit’. Police have confirmed the incident is not terror related. 

The school is an all girls institution which costs £16,000-a-year per student. Members of the public have been asked to stay away from the crash site to let emergency services have full access. 

The Air Ambulance is ‘still trying to get casualties out’ almost two hours after the crash, reports local Riverside Radio, with some of those injured believed to have been inside the building at the time of the collision. 

A guest at a nearby hotel said she spoke to an eye witness, telling the Evening Standard: ‘He said a car just ploughed into the school and it didn’t look good. It’s so sad.’ 

BBC London reporter Helen Hoddinott, reporting from the scene, said: ‘There is a cordon that’s been put up at the end of the road here. As you look back across the Common, there are about 20 ambulances that are all lined up.

‘But actually within the cordon itself, there are only a couple of ambulances with their lights flashing. There has been an enormous emergency response but there’s a sense of quiet here.

‘A few minutes ago a little girl actually walked along that road, she was being supported by both of her parents. She wasn’t wearing any shoes, she was just in her socks. And her dad was also missing a shoe and one of his socks as well. They came out of the cordon and have since disappeared.

‘It’s difficult to know at the moment to get a sense of what happened here this morning.’

Sky News’ Jacquie Beltrao, who is at the scene, said: ‘This is a very small road just off Wimbledon common. Its really narrow and very quiet. I can see about eight ambulances.

‘A police officer said that he believes the incident was caused by an-out-of control car. The roads all around the common have been closed off and there are lots of what look like parents standing around me.

‘It is difficult to know exactly what has happened, but we do know there are casualties and they are being taken to hospital.’

Stephen Hammond, Conservative MP for Wimbledon, said he was ‘very concerned’, adding: ‘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 earlier told BBC Radio London: ‘It’s obviously extremely distressing and extremely concerning. I’ve just spoken to the local police, they are in attendance as are both air and paramedics.

‘There are a number of casualties, I’m not clear how many. I know the area well, obviously. The area is really quite remote, but actually it’s a road that has quite a number of people that drive up and down it to the golf clubs.’

Mr Hammond said the road is ‘quite tight’ meaning people ‘have to stop and let each other past.’  

He said it’s ‘right on the corner of the common’ next to the Wimbledon Common Golf Club.

He explained: ‘It’s on what we would call the quadrangle, Camp Road is part of the quadrangle with West View, North View as well. It’s basically about a mile outside Wimbledon Village.

‘The Study prep school is in two parts. The part that’s at Camp Road deals with children from reception usually up to the age of eight or nine. Nursery, eight or nine. And girls, young girls, as well.

‘Obviously very concerning to hear about this incident. It’s quite remote from the middle of Wimbledon. There’s a very good pub on the corner.

‘Surprising. For quite a tight road, because of the way it works at particular times of the day, it’s very busy, it becomes quite tight to past.’

Mr Hammond said he did not ‘want to speculate’ on how the accident happened because he ‘doesn’t know’. 

He added: ‘But it’s quite a difficult road, because there’s usually parking, because it’s quite difficult to pass, you normally have to stop to let someone pass. So normally people don’t build up speed, it’s in a 20mph zone anyway.

‘If you’d said another road in Wimbledon, I could quite easily understand that some people would be going at the wrong speed, an illegal speed.

‘But this is a road where it’s really quite difficult to do that in as well. Doesn’t happen very often to my knowledge, partly because it’s a tight road, difficult to pass.’

The London Fire Brigade said: ‘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 Metropolitan Police said: ‘Officers are responding to a serious collision at a primary school in Wimbledon.

‘We were called at 09:54hrs on Thursday, 6 July to reports that a car collided with a building at the school in Camp Road.

‘Officers remain at the scene along with paramedics from the London Ambulance Service and London’s Air Ambulance. Several people are being treated at the scene.’

The force said it would share further updates ‘when we can’.  

More to follow…