MELBOURNE – A car crashed into an Australian pub’s outdoor dining area, killing five people and injuring six others including the driver, officials said on Monday.
The 66-year-old driver of the luxury BMW SUV was taken to a hospital after the crash at the crowded Royal Daylesford Hotel beer garden in the rural town of Daylesford, northwest of Melbourne, on Sunday evening, police said.
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The driver suffered shock and minor injuries and remained under police guard, Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Shane Patton said.
Police investigators are trying to determine how the car came to mount a curb and crash into the roadside dining area. The driver tested negative for alcohol and his blood was being analyzed for other impairing substances, Patton said.
A boy, two men in their 30s and a woman in her 40s died at the scene, police said. A teenage girl was flown to a Melbourne hospital where she died on Sunday night.
Two boys, aged 11 months and around 6 years old, were taken to hospitals in stable conditions.
Three adults remained in a Melbourne hospital on Monday, including a 35-year-old woman who was in intensive care.
Police have yet to interview the driver, whose only prior record was for speeding offenses. Investigators did not yet know if excessive speed was a factor in the accident, Patton said.