A single car has crashed into a crowd of people who had come out to farewell the Newcastle Knights team bus as they made their way to Sydney on Saturday morning.
NSW Ambulance said 10 ambulances and three rescue helicopters were sent to the scene, with two people including a five-year-old girl and 67-year-old man in a critical condition.
The other eight people all remain in a stable condition (including two girls aged 2 and 5, two women aged 31 and 63 and four men aged 48, 24, 25 and 57) according to NSW Ambulance.
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The infant girl, who is one of the individuals is in “critical condition”, is fighting for her life after suffering a cardiac arrest.
The other individual who is critical is a man who has already sustained multiple leg fractures.
Ashleigh Gibbs posted a GoFundMe to support the five-year-old girl, who is in an induced coma, and her mother who was “seriously injured”.
One Newcastle fan, Chris Clancy, took to social media to share a photo from hospital after the accident.
He wrote that he had suffered a broken left collarbone and may have a sprained or broken right foot and that his nephews Tom and Matt suffered grazes in the incident.
A number of Knights players including Kalyn Ponga, Phoenix Crossland, Greg Marzhew, Dylan Lucas, Cody Hopwood, Mat Croker, Lachlan Crouch and Bradman Best sent comments of support.
Clancy said most drivers had been beeping as they slowly drove past but that “this idiot and has done that and ruined our day”, recalling how he thought he was “going to die” when the car came towards him
“The guy that was driving the car put his foot down when he got to the roundabout,” he told The Sydney Morning Herald.
“He put his foot down to show off.
“I didn’t have time to get out of the way. No-one had time to move, it happened so fast.
“… I thought I was going to die. The car was coming right at me.”
“So many people have been affected by one person’s split decision,” NSW Police Minister Yasmin Catley said.
“(It’s) a tragedy that needn’t have happened, a tragedy that was preventable.”
NSW Police confirmed in a statement that the driver had been arrested.
NSW Police Assistant Commissioner David Waddell said the crash took place before the Knights’ bus had even left the stadium.
“Unfortunately, a young 18-year-old P player driving erratically has lost control of the vehicle and then gone into the crowd,” he said.
“The male has been arrested.
“He has now been taken to the police station, where he will be dealt with and won’t be charged later on today.
“There was two other persons in the car. We let them out of there because the crowd did turn on them.”
Vision on social media showed the right tyres of the car briefly cross over to the right lane without indicating before veering left and towards the crowd.
Newcastle’s mayor Gavin Morris said there was a quick response from locals and those impacted have been taken to hospital.
“They were able to get onto the phone, you know, straight away and the choppers were deployed very, very quickly,” he said.
“So that is the good news part of the story that those injured were evaced straight to the John Hunter.”
Mr Morris said the driver was an “excited” fan, who seemed to have lost control of the car – “going sideways” into the crowd.
NSW Premier Chris Minns issued a statement saying his thoughts were with the victims.
“It is heartbreaking to see fans who were sending off their grand final team involved in such a terrible incident,” he said.
“My thoughts are with the families and friends of loved ones who have been involved or injured in the crash. I also want to thank emergency services including police and ambulance who are responding to this tragedy.
“We’ve seen how this grand final has brought the Newcastle together, and I hope the whole community remains united as we continue to respond.”
It comes as thousands of Knights fans lined up in the streets of Newcastle to farewell the club for tomorrow’s grand final after they departed their Centre of Excellence.
“The incident has impacted the planned route of the Newcastle Knights grand final procession,” a NSW Police spokesman told News Corp.
“The procession was diverted via an alternate route and the team bus has now departed Newcastle.
“Members of the public are asked to safely disperse from the area and keep roadways clear to assist emergency services and traffic management efforts.”
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Knights captain Kalyn Ponga shared a heartfelt message on social media in the wake of the incident.
“Our hearts are with everyone affected in Wallsend this morning,” he wrote on Instagram.
“We’re thinking of you, your families and everyone in our Newcastle community. Sending our love and support.”
ARLC executive chairman Peter V’landys sent the sport’s support to Knights fans.
“We are deeply saddened by the incident near Wallsend,” Mr V’landys said.
“We’re currently working with police to understand the circumstances.
“Our thoughts are very much with those injured and anyone impacted by these events, not to mention the entire Knights community who have come together in jubilation to support their team.”
Brisbane Broncos NRLW coach Scott Prince, meanwhile, was asked about the incident at his press conference ahead of Sunday’s grand final.
“It’s pretty hard to hear that considering it’s a day of celebration and hopefully everyone’s okay and thinking of them,” Prince said.
Follow the latest updates on the scary incident below.