Five killed in Australia after car ploughs into pub patrons

Five people, including two children, were killed and several injured at a popular tourist town in rural Australia after a car crashed into a crowd of patrons on the front lawn of a pub, authorities said on Monday.

Four died at the scene of the accident on Sunday evening in Daylesford, about 110 km (68 miles) northwest of Melbourne, Victoria state police said. A girl who was airlifted to a hospital died there later.

The SUV mounted a kerb and then drove across a grassed area outside the Royal Daylesford hotel, Police Chief Commissioner Shane Patton said during a media briefing.

“There were a large number of people there at that time, at tables … the vehicle collided with those tables and those people,” Patton said.

Police did not specify if the victims were related and whether speed was a factor at this stage but said those killed were not local residents. All the victims are yet to be formally identified.

The exact circumstances of the accident were yet to be determined, police said. The driver, a 66-year-old man, was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

The driver was breath tested and there was no alcohol in his system and police said they are planning to interview him later on Monday when he is released from hospital.