Two people have died after being hit by a car that was being chased by police in Penge, south-east London.
Witnesses described the aftermath of the crash, in which the suspected stolen car hit a group of pedestrians. A woman and a boy were declared dead at the scene. Their names have not yet been revealed.
Venissa Vassell, 18, heard sirens and a car screeching as she walked from a nearby train station and immediately ran to help. She said there were twin girls aged around seven trapped under the car and about 20 people came to lift the car up to free them.
The girls “crawled out”, but another girl, aged around 11, who was later taken away by ambulance, was screaming “I can’t feel my legs”.
A woman, believed to be in her late 30s or early 40s, and a 10-year-old boy she was related to, were killed, Vassell said. She said: “I did CPR on this lady. I blew in her mouth. It wasn’t working.”
Vassell said that the boy who died was fine one moment, but then “by the time I came back to speak to the little girl to say: ‘Your brother is all right’, he was passed out”. She said that the incident “all happened too quick” and she “could not explain” what she saw.
A man who lives near the crash site said that a black car was being chased by two police BMWs when it tried to turn into Lennard Road, Penge.
“He lost control and ploughed into a family that was walking on the pavement down Lennard Road. People were trying to lift a car off a little girl. The police officers that were chasing were distraught,” the man said. “It was a horrific scene on a sunny afternoon in a sleepy place.”
Another eyewitness, who also did not want to be named, said that apart from the two people who died, the casualties, who were children, were being taken away by ambulance.
Scotland Yard said in a statement: “At approximately 2.05pm yesterday a car was in collision with a number of members of the public in Lennard Road.
“The car was being pursued by police at the time of the collision. London ambulance service and London’s air ambulance attended – two people have been pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the car has been arrested and remains in custody at a south London police station.”
The Independent Police Complaints Commission has been informed and is sending investigators to the crash scene. Scotland Yard’s internal standards department has also been told.
A spokeswoman for London ambulance service said: “We sent multiple resources to the scene including three ambulance crews, two incident response officers, an advanced paramedic and London’s air ambulance.
“Sadly, a woman and a boy died at the scene. We treated a further three patients, all girls, at the scene for multiple injuries and they were all taken to hospital.”
There were 498 crashes involving a pursuit by Metropolitan police officers in London in 2015-16, up from 434 in the previous year. There were 474 such collisions in 2013-14.
In England and Wales there were 21 fatalities in 20 police-related road traffic incidents in 2015-16, up from 14 the previous year. However, the IPCC said it was the fourth lowest figure since 2004-05.
