Five teenagers have been killed in a horror road smash southwest of Sydney.
The driver, an 18-year-old man, survived the single-vehicle crash and was taken to hospital with injuries not considered life-threatening.
Police say his Nissan ute lost control and struck a tree at the intersection of Orange Road and East Parade near the Macarthur Region village of Buxton about 8pm on Tuesday.
Nine Network footage showed the mangled wreck and many emergency responders at the scene, while a medical team arrived by helicopter.
Authorities say three female and two male passengers, still to be formally identified but all believed to be around 14 to 15 years of age, died at the scene.
Camden police chief Superintendent Paul Fuller said it was the worst scene of a crash he has seen in 38 years of his career.
“It’s a horrific accident scene and a traumatic event like this will have a devastating impact on the families, friends and the local community,” he told reporters.
“They’re all local kids, they all go to the local high school,” he told reporters.
“Unfortunately some of the first responders would know these kids.”
Superintendent Fuller said police have spoken with the local high school and counselling will be provided to affected students.
“Can I just say to parents, know where your kids are.”
Fire and Rescue NSW Superintendent Adam Dewberry said it was an “absolutely chaos and devastating” scene.
“All of the emergency services, police, ambulance, [were] confronted with a significant, critical, traumatic scene,” he said.
Police said the driver had been taken to Sydney’s Liverpool Hospital where he had undergone mandatory blood and urine tests. He had not been placed under arrest.
Investigators are appealing for anyone with dashcam footage or information about the incident to contact them.