A mother whose car crashed through a Victoria primary school fence, killing a young boy, has been released without charge, police say.
The 40-year-old woman was making a U-turn after collecting her child at Auburn South Primary School, Hawthorn East, when the car rammed through a fence.
Her white Toyota RAV4 veered off Burgess Street and slammed into an outdoor table where five children were seated just after 2.30pm on Tuesday, police say.
An 11-year-old boy suffered critical injuries and died on the way to hospital.
Two 11-year-old girls, a 10-year-old girl and a 10-year-old boy were seriously injured. The remained in hospital on Wednesday morning.
The driver, who is also from Hawthorn East, was arrested and interviewed by police. In an update early on Wednesday, Victoria Police said she had been released as the investigation continued.
Police said it was too early to determine whether the woman had suffered a medical episode.
“It’s really tough for everybody involved, from the community, the school community, the locals, the first responders, ambulances and police,” Inspector Craig McEvoy said.
“These events are always hard where there’s death and serious injury, but especially difficult when there’s children involved.”
The woman and her child were not injured.
Police will take statements from the school principal, teachers, parents and other witnesses.
The car had a green P-plate, but McEvoy said he was not certain of the woman’s licence status.
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan said a “dark shadow” had been cast over Melbourne and the wider state on what should have been a sunny and unremarkable Tuesday.
On Wednesday, she said she was in parliament when she heard about the tragedy and felt instantly shaken.
“My stomach just lurched and I think any parent, we’ve all done the school pick-up, the school drop-off. Any parent of a of a child at a primary school yesterday felt particularly sick,” she told Nine’s Today show.
“I’ve got a little boy in grade five and it really does bring it home about how how difficult this will be today for the school community.”
Parent Lucy told radio station 3AW that her son was friends with some of the grade five students and possibly a prep student hit by the car during recess.
“We got a text message from the school just saying that Burgess Street closed and then we … actually drove past, and I just saw one police car,” she said.
“Then we just started hearing more and more police cars go down so I just raced down there.”
Lucy said she arrived at the scene to find parents hugging their children and each other.
“It’s just every person’s worst nightmare, and I just hope the children are OK,” she said.
Resident Don Owen said Burgess Street could be busy with traffic, particularly at the start and finish of school, and cars sometimes sped by.
Ambulance Victoria sent multiple advanced life support and mobile intensive care vehicles to the scene.
Three of the children were taken to the Royal Children’s Hospital and two were taken to Monash Medical Centre.
Public order response crews remained at the scene late on Tuesday, with the leafy street was closed as more than a dozen police officers worked on the white vehicle, which was lodged past the school’s grey steel fence.
Education Minister Ben Carroll was monitoring the situation, while Opposition Leader and local MP John Pesutto described the incident as a “painful shock”.
“It’s the worst nightmare for parents and families and siblings and the school community that you could possibly imagine,” Pesutto told ABC TV on Wednesday.
“It’s just devastating for them, and it’s been felt right across the area.”
The Department of Education said it was working closely with staff, students and parents of the school to support them.
-with AAP
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