An eight-year-old girl killed when a Land Rover crashed through a school fence in south-west London on Thursday has been named by the Metropolitan police as Selena Lau.
A family statement said: “Selena was an intelligent and cheeky girl adored and loved by everyone. The family wishes their privacy to be respected at this sad time.”
Police said a second eight-year-old girl was in a life-threatening condition and a woman in her 40s was in a critical condition after the driver crashed her car into the Study preparatory school in Wimbledon.
The 46-year-old driver, who has not been named, was arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving. She has been bailed pending further inquiries, police said.
Several other people – including a seven-month-old girl – were taken to hospital and their conditions have been assessed as not life-threatening, the Met said.
The injured adults were parents or carers and not staff at the school, the force added.
Sixteen people were treated at the scene and 10 were taken to hospital.
Officers are not treating the incident as terror-related.
A police cordon was no longer in place on Friday morning. Flowers and tributes had been placed along the entrance to the school.
A woman wearing a blue sling around her arm visited the scene and left flowers in a box and a card. She paused to look at the flowers and was consoled by a man she was with.
She left a note at the scene saying: “Dear Selena, you will always be our shining star. We will miss you so much.”
Members of the Wimbledon Common golf club, situated opposite the school, held a minute’s silence outside its gates on Friday afternoon.
Peter Thompson, the chair of the golf club, said: “We’re close neighbours; we’ve got close links with The Study.
“When they were doing their refurbishments they used one of our offices. It’s shocked the whole membership.
“It’s just so sad to lose someone so young.”
PA Media contributed to this report
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/jul/07/wimbledon-school-crash-victim-named-as-selena-lau
