Girl killed after car ploughs into London primary school

LONDON - A girl was killed and several other children were injured on Thursday after a car ploughed into a primary school building in southwest London, triggering a major response by emergency services.

The crash at the private Study Prep girls' school in Wimbledon, was not being treated by police as terror-related, and the driver a woman in her 40s who stopped at the scene was arrested.

She was detained on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving, London's Metropolitan Police said, confirming the death of the child.

Earlier, the force said seven children and two adults were injured in the crash, and the local member of parliament said he understood several casualties were "being treated as critical".

MP Stephen Hammond described the crash as "extraordinarily distressing and tragic".

Aerial footage of the scene not far from where the Wimbledon tennis tournament was taking place showed a Land Rover car stopped at an angle against the wall of the modern school building.

The vehicle was in a grassed area near what appeared to be coloured play mats and a table.

The police, ambulance and fire service were all called to the scene on Camp Road, near Wimbledon Common, after the incident just before 10 am (0900 GMT).

Witnesses and reporters on the spot said the road outside the school was a narrow one on which it would normally have been difficult to build up any speed.

The Study Prep school takes girls from aged four to 11. It is split into several sites, with the youngest pupils taught on Camp Road, near the Royal Wimbledon Golf Club.

Thursday was the last day of term for children aged four to eight, according to the school's website.

Health minister Steve Barclay called the incident "distressing". "My thoughts are with those sadly injured and everyone who has been affected," he added.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan called it "absolutely devastating".

As well as police, crews from London Fire Brigade, London Ambulance Service and the London Air Ambulance were all called to deal with the incident. - AFP