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Buxton crash: Five dead after car crash in southwest of Sydney

Wollondilly’s mayor says there are no words to express the community’s grief after five teens died in a horror crash in southwest Sydney.

Five teens dead after Buxton crash

Five young people are dead and another has been taken to hospital after a horror single-vehicle car crash in Sydney’s southwest outskirts, in what has been described as a “dark day” for the region.

Wollondilly mayor Matt Gould said the tragedy - where a Nissan Navara ploughed into a tree on East Pde at Buxton just after 8pm on Tuesday - would ripple across the shire.

All of the five teenagers who died in the crash, three girls and two boys, were students at Picton High School, the council area’s only public high school.

“It’s just heartbreaking, it’s devastating,” he said. “I don’t have the words to properly express the grief that our community are feeling at the moment.

“Wollondilly is a very tight knit community, Buxton in particular is very tight knit.

“It’s going to ripple across the entire shire. It’s horrible.”

Five people have died at Buxton. Picture: Julian Andrews
Five people have died at Buxton. Picture: Julian Andrews
People arrive at the scene with flowers. Picture: John Grainger
People arrive at the scene with flowers. Picture: John Grainger

Cr Gould said it was essential that members of the community took the time to check in on each other.

“Thoughts are with the families and friends of those who have tragically lost their lives and our emergency responders last night.

“Especially when you look at Buxton RFS, it’s such a small community the odds are that one of them would have known at least one of these kids. It’s absolutely horrible.”

“We really need to make sure today that everyone is reaching out today and checking on their family and checking on their mates and being an ear if they need to talk because it’s a very dark day for Wollondilly and there are a lot of people in pain.

Wollondilly mayor Matt Gould. Picture: Annie Lewis
Wollondilly mayor Matt Gould. Picture: Annie Lewis
NSW Treasurer Matt Kean. Picture: Gary Ramage
NSW Treasurer Matt Kean. Picture: Gary Ramage

“I don’t have the words to express the grief that everyone is feeling today. I think it’s important to just be there for each other.”

NSW Treasurer Matt Kean also paid tribute to the devastation being felt by Buxton community.

“I just want to say that many of us woke up this morning to the tragic news of the death of five teenagers in Buxton,” he said.

“Our thoughts really are with family and friends of the five teenagers who lost their lives, and also the school community at Picton High, the close knit community down at Buxton, and of course, the first responders who described the scene as horrific.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with all of them today, as they go through this difficult tragedy.”

Macarthur FC chairman Gino Marra shared his condolences on social media following the tragic crash.

“Condolences to the family and friends of the five teenagers killed overnight in Sydney’s South West,” he wrote. “Heart breaking- god bless.”

An 18-year-old man, who was behind the wheel of the Nissan at the time, survived and suffered non life-threatening injuries. He was placed under arrest to be conveyed to Liverpool Hospital for mandatory blood and urine testing. Charges have not been laid.

Camden police superintendent Paul Fuller said the crash was one of the worst he’d seen in his 38 years of policing.

He said the victims were “local kids”, all of whom attended Picton High School and revealed the youngest was aged just 14 or 15.

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Original URL: https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/newslocal/macarthur/buxton-crash-five-dead-after-car-crash-in-southwest-of-sydney/news-story/2772d3e4aea303b507c5530b0bae2229