Seven children and two adults injured after car hits a primary school in Wimbledon, London
Seven children and two adults have been injured after a car crashed into a primary school building in Wimbledon, south-west London.
A gold-coloured Land Rover crashed into The Study Preparatory School in Camp Road just before 10:00 BST.
A major incident has been declared and several people are being treated by paramedics. An air ambulance is at the scene.
The school is for girls aged 4 to 11 and is located near Wimbledon Common.
The Met Police says the injured includes two adults and seven children, adding: “We await further updates on their conditions.
“The driver of the vehicle stopped at the scene. There have been no arrests.”
The stationary Land Rover can be seen on school grounds, surrounded by plastic sheets and cordons.
About 20 ambulances are parked on Camp Road, along with two fire and rescue vehicles.
Firefighters were seen carrying various cutting equipment away from the scene.
St George’s Hospital, in Tooting, said it was “receiving a number of patients who are being cared for by our specialist clinical teams”.
A number of onlookers are at the edge of the cordon at the top of the road, including worried parents who have been turning up all morning. Once at the scene, they are being asked to register their names and details with a police officer. Many of them are huddled in groups chatting and looking very concerned.
The Met added it was not treating the incident as terror-related. “An investigation is under way to understand the full circumstances of what has taken place,” it said.
London Fire Brigade is also at the scene.
MP for Wimbledon Stephen Hammond says a major incident has been declared, and that the part of the school where the crash happened is where pupils aged between four and eight would have been.
“It’s extremely distressing and extremely concerning,” he told the BBC.
“The size of the response tells you how serious the incident is and there are a number of casualties, and I understand that a number of those are being treated as critical.”
He described the location as “really quite remote”, adding it is situated roughly a mile from Wimbledon village and on the way to several nearby golf clubs.
He added on Twitter: “My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone at The Study.”
Wimbledon resident Julie Atwood said: “My daughter used to go to this school. It’s a girls’ school.
“Wimbledon is like a little village. For this to happen in Wimbledon is unheard of. It’s terrible.”
The school, which costs £5,565 per term, is for girls aged four to 11 and sits on Wimbledon Common, just a mile away from the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club as it hosts the world-famous tennis tournament.
Wimbledon and Putney Commons Conservators advised the public to stay away from part of the commons.
They said: “Following an incident at the edge of [Wimbledon] Common on Camp Road, the public are asked to avoid that area of the Commons to allow free access to the emergency services.”
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said: “The incident this morning at a primary school on Camp Road in Wimbledon is absolutely devastating. My heart goes out to everyone affected.”
He added that people should “avoid the area to allow emergency services free access to help all those who need it”.
Home Secretary Suella Braverman said she was “saddened to hear about the tragic incident at the school in Wimbledon this morning”, adding in a tweet: “My thoughts are with everyone affected.
“I would like to thank emergency responders at the scene. It is important they are now able to carry out their investigation.”
Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper thanked the emergency services on site “for their swift response”.
She said: “Thinking of all the families, pupils and staff affected by the terrible incident at a primary school in Wimbledon this morning.”