LONDON (AP) — A girl was killed Thursday when an SUV crashed into an elementary school on a very narrow road in the Wimbledon district of southwest London, police said.
The Metropolitan Police said there have been further injuries, but didn't provide any new details. Earlier, police said that seven children and two adults were injured during the crash, which isn't being treated as terror-related.
“This is tragic news and our thoughts are with the girl’s family and friends, and everyone affected today," said Detective Chief Superintendent Clair Kelland, the local police commander for southwest London.
Police also confirmed that the driver of the vehicle, a woman in her 40s, was arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving.
Police were called to The Study Preparatory School, a private all-girls school, at 9:54 a.m., along with paramedics on the ground and air ambulances. The driver of the vehicle, believed to be a Land Rover, stopped at the scene.
Stephen Hammond, Wimbledon’s representative in Parliament, said the section of the school where the crash took place caters to younger children between the ages of 4 and 8.
"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 said.
The crash occurred about a mile away from the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, which is hosting the world-famous Wimbledon tennis tournament. Unlike the grand slam event, the school is located in a fairly remote area surrounded by local parks, horse trails and golf courses.
Police have extended a large cordon around the school and television pictures from overhead showed the SUV up against the wall of the building.
Dog walkers and passersby were moved away from the scene as an air ambulance remained on the edge of Wimbledon Common, a large open space, while a number of ambulances were parked nearby.
“Wimbledon is like a little village,” resident Julie Atwood said. “For this to happen in Wimbledon is unheard of. It’s terrible.”
