MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — A mother collecting a child crashed a car through a Melbourne school fence on Tuesday, fatally injuring one child and leaving four others seriously hurt, police said.
The 40-year-old mother had collected a child from the Auburn South Primary School and was making a U-turn on the road outside when she crashed through a fence and into an outdoor table where five children were seated after 2:30 p.m. local time, Police Insp. Craig McEvoy said.
“It appears it is a tragic accident,” McEvoy told reporters.
An 11-year-old boy was taken to hospital with critical injuries and later died, a police statement said.
Two girls, aged 11, a 10-year-old girl and a 10-year-old boy were taken to hospital with serious injuries, police said.
The driver was arrested at the scene and remained in custody, police said. Neither she nor her student passenger was injured.
Police were questioning the mother, McEvoy said but had no further updates. Specialist accident investigation detectives were at the scene gathering evidence.
Video showed the station wagon with obvious damage to its front-left fender had came to a halt after passing through a shade-cloth covered recreation area.
Victoria Police establish a crime scene outside of Auburn South Primary School, Tooronga Rd, Hawthorn East, in Melbourne, Australia, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024. (Joel Carrett/AAP Image via AP)
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Five Australians who had spent almost 20 years in Indonesian prisons for heroin trafficking returned to Australia on Sunday under a deal struck between the two governments, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said.
The governments confirmed weeks ago that negotiations were underway for Matthew Norman, Scott Rush, Martin Stephens, Si Yi Chen, and Michael Czugaj to be returned to Australia. Their return on Sunday was shrouded in secrecy.
There was uncertainty about whether they could potentially serve out their life sentences in Australian prisons. However, Albanese confirmed in a statement Sunday the men returned to Australia as free citizens.
He also thanked Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto for the men’s release.
“Australia respects Indonesia’s sovereignty and legal processes and we appreciate Indonesia’s compassionate consideration of this matter," Albanese said.
The five were among a gang of nine Australian smugglers arrested in the Indonesian tourist island of Bali in 2005 as they attempted to fly with heroin strapped to their bodies to Australia.
Two convicted ringleaders of the Bali Nine, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, were executed by a firing squad in 2015, causing a diplomatic furor between neighbors Indonesia and Australia. One of the drug smugglers, Tan Duc Thanh Nguyen, died of cancer in prison in 2018, while Renae Lawrence, the only woman in the group, was released and returned to Australia the same year.
The agreement was signed Friday during a virtual meeting by Australian Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke and Indonesia’s senior law minister, Yusril Ihza Mahendra, Australian Broadcasting Corp. said.
The men flew on the Australian airline Jetstar from Indonesia to the northern Australian city of Darwin where they remain, according to ABC.
The Australian government had offered the men temporary accommodation, medical care and any other support required, local media reported.
Albanese said they will “have the opportunity to continue their personal rehabilitation and reintegration here in Australia.”
In this photo released by the Indonesian Coordinating Ministry for Legal, Human Rights, Immigration and Correctional Affairs, Indonesian and Australian officials sign handover documents as five Australians who have spent almost 20 years in Indonesian prisons for heroin trafficking look on, prior to their return to Australia, in Bali, Indonesia, Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024. (Indonesian Coordinating Ministry for Legal, Human Rights, Immigration and Correctional Affairs via AP)
FILE - Australian Matthew Norman, left, a member of the Bali Nine group and serving life sentences for drug smuggling, talks with Indonesian representative council at Kerobokan prison in Bali, Indonesia Friday, Dec. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati, File)
