Eight-year-old girl has died after a car crashed into a primary school in Wimbledon, south-west London.
Paramedics treated 16 people for injuries after the Land Rover crashed into The Study Preparatory School in Camp Road.
The driver, a woman in her 40s, has been arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving.
Worried parents had huddled at the police cordon, waiting for information, while emergency services worked.
The school is for girls aged four to 11 and located near Wimbledon Common, with the local MP saying pupils had been gathered for an end-of-year celebration party in the garden.
A major incident was declared, but the Met said it was not being treated as terror-related.At a news conference, local police commander for south-west London, became emotional, her voice breaking at times.
“This is a very difficult time for everyone here at the school and across the wider community,” she said.
We would ask people not to speculate while we work to understand the full circumstances of what has happened during this tragic incident.
“Our officers have already spoken to a number of witnesses and have viewed the CCTV.”
John Tucker, chair of the board of governors, said “the school community is profoundly affected by this tragedy”.
The stationary Land Rover could be seen on school grounds, surrounded by plastic sheets and cordons.
London Ambulance Service took 10 people to hospital, with St George’s Hospital, in Tooting, “receiving a number of patients who are being cared for by our specialist clinical teams”.
About 20 ambulances were parked on Camp Road, along with two fire and rescue vehicles.
Firefighters were seen carrying various cutting equipment away from the scene.
A number of onlookers earlier stood at the edge of the cordon at the top of the road, including worried parents who were turning up all morning.Once at the scene, they were asked to register their names and details with a police officer.
Many of them awere huddled in groups looking very concerned.
MP for Wimbledon Stephen Hammond told the BBC part of the school where the crash happened was where pupils aged between four and eight would have been.
“It’s extremely distressing and extremely concerning,” he said, speaking earlier before police had announced the girl’s death.
“The size of the response tells you how serious the incident is and there are a number of casualties, and I understand that a number of those are being treated as critical,” he said.
