A car rammed into a crowd standing on a road to cheer on the Newcastle Knights rugby team north of Sydney on Saturday, injuring at least 10 people, Associated Press reported, citing Australian officials.
New South Wales Ambulance officials said the incident occurred on Saturday morning and that several people were being treated at the scene.
Two of the injured — a 5-year-old girl and a 67-year-old man — were in critical condition, and the other eight were in stable condition at a hospital, according to New South Wales police. Those in stable condition included another 5-year-old girl and a 2-year-old girl.
The driver, identified by the Associated Press as an 18-year-old man, was arrested at the scene in the city’s suburb of Wallsend, about 110 kilometres north of the New South Wales state capital. Police said initial indications suggested the incident was not terrorism related.
Gavin Morris, the mayor of Newcastle, told the ABC News that the driver, who he said was a Knights fan, lost control while revving his car shortly before the team arrived.
What happened?
The fans were waiting on Saturday for the team bus ahead of a rugby league finals match on Sunday.
“I’ve spoken to the authorities, a number of which, and look, first of all, it is under investigation, and the young driver is now with police, so it appears that he was revving the car in some form. He was excited. He was a supporter. He was, you know, a fan,” Morris said.
“It appears that he’s lost control of the car, and he’s gone into the crowd. And I believe about nine were injured, which sadly also included children [after] … he’s gone sideways into the crowd,” the mayor added.
Thousands had been cheering the team on this week as they trained, the Australian Associated Press reported. Another large crowd was on the street Saturday morning to see the team bus off ahead of Sunday’s finals.
Footage posted on social media appeared to show the car being driven quickly around a roundabout shortly before the crash. Other images showed it had careened onto a footpath soon afterwards.
The Newcastle Link Road was closed in both directions, leading to the diversion of the Knights’ grand final procession.
Reactions
The club confirmed in an Instagram post that it had changed its route, apologising to fans who may have missed the chance to say farewell to the team, but saying “public safety is our priority”.
“One person made a decision in a split second that put everyone at risk,” said Jenny Aitchison, the roads minister for the state of New South Wales.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said, “My thoughts are with everyone injured or involved in the horrible incident this morning in Newcastle”.
“Rugby league brings people together, and this should have been a weekend of excitement and pride for Newcastle fans,” he wrote in a post on X.
And Knights captain Kalyn Ponga said on Instagram: “We’re thinking of you, your families and everyone in our Newcastle community.”
“Sending our love and support.”
