The five teenagers killed in a horror road smash southwest of Sydney were aged between 14 and 16 and attended the same local high school.
Camden police chief Superintendent Paul Fuller said the three girls and two boys were passengers in a Nissan ute and died at the “horrific” scene on Tuesday night.
The ute was torn apart after the 18-year-old male driver lost control and struck a tree near the Macarthur Region village of Buxton in the Wollondilly Shire at about 8 p.m.
The driver survived the crash and was taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries and will undergo mandatory blood and urine tests.
“I have been in the police for 38 years, and it’s one of the worst accident scenes I have ever come across,” Supt. Fuller told reporters.
“I can confirm that the passengers are all aged between 14 and 16,” he told Sydney radio 2GB on Wednesday.
All of the victims were students at Picton High School, with at least three of them in year 9.
“The Picton High School community is devastated by the death of five young people in a vehicle accident last night,” the Education Department said in a statement.
“Our thoughts and deepest condolences are with the families and friends of the young people who lost their lives.
“Counsellors and extra staff will be on-site at school today to support students and staff.”
Supt. Fuller said some of the victims’ parents rushed to the scene.
“We had parents turning up ... who had found out through social media that their kids may have been involved in this crash,” he said.
A police family liaison officer worked with the families to identify the children.
The P-plate driver remains in Liverpool Hospital with minor injuries, and police hope to speak to him later on Wednesday.
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.
“Know who your kids are getting into a vehicle with, who that driver ... is, and can they be trusted,” he said.
Footage of the mangled wreck showed the ute had been shredded, with debris spread across the road.
Some of the first responders lived in the local community and knew the victims, and were also being counselled.
Wollondilly Shire Mayor Matt Gould said the close-knit community was waking up in shock and mourning.
“The loss of so many young lives is just devastating, and you can’t put into words the overwhelming loss many in our community are feeling,” he posted on Facebook.
“Our 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.
“There’s 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,” he wrote.
Wollondilly MP Nathaniel Smith said the community was “really hurting”.
“Obviously, this is going to be an issue we’re going to have to deal with not just for days but weeks,” he told 2GB.
Investigators are appealing for anyone with dashcam footage or information to contact them.
