Flowers and tributes mount as Banksia Road Public School grieves
FLOWERS, teddy-bears and messages are mounting outside Banksia Road Public School in Greenacre as students return just 24 hours after losing two of their classmates.
The Express
Don't miss out on the headlines from The Express. Followed categories will be added to My News.
FLOWERS, teddy-bears and messages are mounting outside Banksia Road Public School in Greenacre as students return just 24 hours after losing two of their classmates.
Distraught children laid the tributes at the school after two eight-year-old boys were killed by a car that smashed into their classroom yesterday, as the driver expressed her deep sorrow over the tragedy.
Two eight-year-old boys died and three other students were seriously injured after a car crashed into the Year 3 classroom at 9.45am.
The school opted to open as usual today, with counsellors on hand to support returning children.
“I cannot begin to comprehend the sadness being felt by the parents and families of the two young boys who have died in the tragic accident at Banksia Road Public School,” New South Wales state Education Minister Rob Stokes said.
“My thoughts and prayers are with their families and the entire school community.”
Ambulance workers said they arrived to “a scene of carnage” with one father describing lifting the car off a dying boy.
He said another badly injured classmate, who later died, lay a few feet away.
“He was saying ‘I want my mum’. She wouldn’t have got to see him before he died.”
Police last night charged the driver, Maha Al-Shennag, a parent at the school and a widowed mother of four, with two counts of dangerous driving occasioning death and negligent driving after she was released from custody yesterday afternoon.
She is due to front Bankstown Local Court on November 29.
Police have indicated the crash was being treated as non-intentional.
The Canterbury Bankstown Express understands police will allege the fatal crash was a tragic accident and it is not believed Ms Al-Shennag was under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
Her lawyer Nick Hanna she was “deeply sorry for the loss and hurt suffered by the children, the school, the families and the community.”
“Her thoughts and prayers are with all those affected,” he added. Al-Shennag, reportedly a widowed mother-of-four who was dropping off a child at the school, has had her licence suspended.
A Department of Education spokesman said this morning ongoing counselling will be offered at the school for all students and staff.
Education bosses have indicated they will await the findings of a coronial inquiry into the incident before deciding if safety at the school and others across NSW needs to be improved.
The ripple effects of the tragedy have been felt throughout the community.
Lauren Danilo, 23, lives just two streets away from the school.
She does not have any children at the school, but laid flowers for many of the people in her street who do.
“I live in the community and I’m heartbroken,” Ms Danilo said.
“I don’t know. I can’t bring them back, I can’t do anything, but I can be there to support them and anything the community needs.”
STUDENTS RETURN TO THE SCHOOL
Lakemba state MP Jihad Dib said the families’ grief will be felt across the country.
“This is a shock that has absolutely torn through our community and society at large,” Mr Dib said.
”My heart goes out to the immediate and extended family of the deceased children. This is every parent’s worst nightmare. My prayers and those of my family are also for the recovery of the young children injured”.
