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Sydney · Public Safety

North of Sydney: Car Ploughs into Newcastle Knights Fans, 10 Injured

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A car drove into a crowd farewelling the Newcastle Knights in Wallsend on Saturday morning, injuring 10 — including a five-year-old girl and a 67-year-old man in critical condition. An 18-year-old driver was arrested.

Why it matters

What was meant to be a morning of celebration turned distressing: at about 9:30 a.m. local time, thousands of fans had lined Newcastle Link Road in Wallsend to farewell the Newcastle Knights ahead of Sunday's NRL Grand Final against the Sydney Roosters at Accor Stadium. Police say the 18-year-old P-plate driver was arrested at the scene and is expected to be charged later Saturday; initial indications are that the incident was not targeted and not terrorism-related.

Full report

NSW Police said emergency services were called to the Newcastle Link Road and Transfield Drive roundabout after reports a vehicle struck multiple people in the crowd. Ten people were injured: a five-year-old girl and a 67-year-old man are in critical condition, while eight others are stable — including another five-year-old girl, a two-year-old girl, two women aged 31 and 63, and four men aged 24, 25, 48 and 57. All were taken to John Hunter Hospital, with multiple ambulances and helicopters deployed.

The teenage driver was taken to hospital for mandatory drug and alcohol testing. At a Saturday afternoon media conference, NSW Police Assistant Commissioner David Waddell said the 18-year-old is expected to be charged later in the day; charges had not yet been laid. Newcastle Mayor Gavin Morris said early information suggested the driver lost control, telling reporters “it appears that he was revving the car in some form.”

Knights CEO Peter Parr issued a statement saying the club's thoughts were with everyone injured, their families and witnesses, and thanked NSW Police, NSW Ambulance and the John Hunter Hospital team. Newcastle Link Road was closed in both directions as emergency crews worked at the scene.

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