Photo: 123RF
An 11-year-old boy has died after being struck by a car that veered off the road and into a primary school in Melbourne's east.
Emergency services were called to Auburn South Primary School in Hawthorn East today after reports of a collision.
Australian police said a vehicle was travelling along Burgess Street when it is believed to have left the road and crashed through a fence near a sports court at the school just after 2.30pm (local time).
A 40-year-old woman has been arrested and will be interviewed by police.
Two 11-year-old girls, one 10-year-old girl and a 10-year-old boy were all taken to hospital with serious injuries, while another child who was in the vehicle was unharmed.
The exact cause of the collision is still being investigated.
Local business owner Guy said he had gone to the school to offer any assistance he could.
"There were some kids that are very, very frightened, not themselves," he told ABC Radio Melbourne.
He described the scene as "chaos" with Burgess Street near the school closed to traffic.
Victoria's Department of Education said police were setting up roadblocks around the school which would affect parents trying to pick up other students.
They said it would also affect the nearby high school.
Victoria's Minister for Education Ben Carroll said his sympathies were with the students and their families, and that the government was monitoring the situation closely.
"I've asked [the Department of Education] to be on standby to provide whatever supports are needed," Carroll said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
- ABC