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School in shock after boy dies in crash

A Sydney school community is in shock after a young boy on holidays from Malaysia died after he was hit by a car on the last day of the school year.

The six-year-old was struck as he was walking with his mother and two female cousins, aged four and five, near Carlingford Public School on Rickard Street, Carlingford in Sydney’s northwest on Wednesday morning.

The car, with a woman and two children inside, was turning into the driveway of a child-care centre when it ploughed into them as they were walking past.

The boy died at the scene.

The Nissan Dualis sedan also hit his four-year-old cousin who is in The Children’s Hospital at Westmead with pelvic injuries.

The boy’s 38-year-old mother, a Malaysian national, was taken to Westmead Hospital with non life-threatening injuries while the other young girl was not injured.

Parents rushed to the school on Wednesday afternoon to find most of the street being cordoned off by police tape.

Magdalena Kowalska, a mother of three children at the school, went to pick up her children about lunchtime after hearing the news.

“I was at work and heard about it … I thought I’d come and check on the children and collect them from school,” she said.

“There was counselling inside just to reassure them that everything is fine.”

Her son Alex, 11, said school staff had talked to students about the accident.

“I just heard someone died in a car crash and was pretty sad about it.”

The driver of the car, a 46-year-old Carlingford woman, was taken to hospital suffering shock.

Police said she would undergo mandatory blood and urine testing.

Superintendent John Duncan, from Ryde Local Area Command, said the driveway where the accident happened was not a designated drop-off area, and it was still too early to tell what caused the accident.

“This is a tragic incident, it’s a week before Christmas, it’s the last day of school,” Supt Duncan said.

“It’s a timely reminder for everybody to just take your time on the roads.”

Police are yet to formally interview the driver or the mother of the boy who died.

The Department of Education has organised counselling for teachers and students.

Premier Barry O’Farrell said it was a terrible day for the entire school community.

“It’s a shock to everybody,” Mr O’Farrell said.

“A shock, not least because this, the last day of school, is normally a day full of excitement for students and school communities.

“A shock because for all of us in this country, schools are happy, safe, learning environments.”

Police will prepare a report for the coroner.

The latest school death comes one year after five-year-old Kevin Quintal was struck on his way to kindergarten at a school in Kingsgrove in Sydney’s south.

The driver, Lidija Sutevska, was found not guilty of negligent driving occasioning death in November with the magistrate saying it was “a series of unfortunate events”.

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