Buxton car crash

Overview

There was a car crash in Buxton, Sydney. After a NSW collision that killed five teenagers, authorities charged the driver.

An 18-year-old male has been charged by police after it was claimed that he was operating a ute on the night of Tuesday, south-west of Sydney, when it crashed, killing five high school classmates and leaving mourners in a small rural hamlet. The male was treated by New South Wales emergency personnel for non-life-threatening wounds, according to the police, and then transported to Liverpool hospital for required tests. The man was detained on Wednesday afternoon after being discharged from the hospital and escorted to the Narellan police station to aid investigators. He was then accused of five counts of reckless driving causing death. Teenagers who are grieving place flowers and cards at Picton, southwest of Sydney, where their friends were killed.

Two boys, ages 15 and 16, and three girls, aged 14 and 15, also perished in the single-vehicle collision. Around 8 o’clock in the evening, a Nissan ute carrying the Picton High School students reportedly being driven by the 18-year-old veered off the road and collided with a tree. All five of the passengers were killed instantly as the impact tore the ute apart. The driver returned a negative breath test at the scene, according to acting inspector Jason Hogan. He described the scene as “extremely confronting”. “It must be extremely traumatic for family, friends, first responders and the local community to have five young lives lost in such circumstances,” he said.

Police family liaison officers were providing assistance to the bereaved families, and a support group for victims of road trauma would also receive counselling. Police were looking into how six persons ended up riding in a four-seater truck that was only supposed to hold four.

Two separate counselling teams were at Picton high school, one dedicated to staff and another to supporting the 1,100 students. The victims were from years 9 and 11.