Town left to pick up the pieces after five teens die in horror car crash
Five teenagers from the same high school have died in a horror road smash that has left a small town southwest of Sydney in mourning.
Three girls, two aged 14 and one 15, and two boys, 15 and 16, died in the single-vehicle crash on Tuesday night.
The teens from Picton High School were passengers in a Nissan ute being driven by an 18-year-old male driver when it left the road and struck a tree near the Macarthur Region village of Buxton in the Wollondilly Shire about 8pm.
The ute was torn apart and the five teens all died at the scene.
The driver survived, was arrested and taken to Liverpool Hospital with non-life threatening injuries to undergo mandatory blood and urine tests.
Camden police chief Superintendent Paul Fuller who has been in the force for 38 years said āItās one of the worst accident scenes I have ever come acrossā.
At least three of the victims were in year 9.
A Facebook post by Picton High School said it was āprioritising support for our students as they come to terms with this terrible newsā.
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āExtra counselling support and alternative arrangements will be in place to help our students through this.ā
The Education Department said the school community was devastated and offered ādeepest condolencesā to āthe families and friends of the young people who lost their livesā.
Premier Dominic Perrottet also offered condolences.
āOur hearts go out to them at this difficult time,ā he said.
Supt Fuller said some of the victimsā parents rushed to the scene shortly after the crash.
āWe had parents turning up ā¦ who had found out through social media that their kids may have been involved in this crash,ā he told Sydney radio 2GB.
A police family liaison officer worked with the families to identify the children.
The P-plate driver remains in hospital with minor injuries and police hope to speak to him later on Wednesday.
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Alcohol is not thought to be a factor in the crash.
Supt Fuller said police would be investigating how six people came to be travelling in the ute, which is designed to carry five, and urged parents to know where their children were.
āKnow who your kids are getting into a vehicle with, who that driver ā¦ is and can they be trusted,ā he said.
Footage of the mangled wreck showed the ute had been shredded, with debris strewn across the road.
NSW Fire and Rescue Superintendent Adam Dewberry said some of the first responders at the scene knew the victims and were being counselled.
āOur firefighters live in the community theyāre responding to,ā he told ABC TV.
āWeāre conscious of that and weāll be providing all the support we can.ā
Wollondilly Shire Mayor Matt Gould said the close-knit community was waking up in shock and mourning.
āThe loss of so many young lives is just devastating and you canāt put into words the overwhelming loss many in our community are feeling,ā he posted on Facebook.
āOur thoughts are with the Picton High and Buxton communities and particularly with the family and friends of those involved, as well as the emergency responders who had to deal with such a heartbreaking scene.
āThereās an awful lot of people in the shire that are hurting today, so we need to be there to support and look out for each other,ā he wrote.
Wollondilly MP Nathaniel Smith said the community was āreally hurtingā.
āObviously this is going to be an issue weāre going to have to deal with not just for days but weeks,ā he told 2GB.
Investigators are appealing for anyone with dashcam footage or information to contact them.
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