Penge car accident: 'Woman and child' killed in London after being hit by car chased by police

Two members of the public were pronounced dead at the scene at Lennard Road in Penge

A woman and boy have died after a car being chased by police in south east London lost control and ploughed into "a family".

Emergency services were called to Lennard Road in Penge at around 2:05pm on Wednesday and two members of the public were pronounced dead at the scene.

The London Ambulance Service said a woman and boy died at the scene and three girls have been taken to hospital with multiple injuries.

A spokeswoman 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."

A 23-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving and theft of a vehicle.

One witness has said a woman in her late 30s or early 40s and a 10-year-old-boy, who she believed to be related, were killed in the accident.

Venissa Vassell, 18, who heard sirens and a car screeching, ran to the scene to help.

She said twin girls again around seven became trapped under the car and about 20 people came to lift them free.

The girls "crawled out", however another girl aged around, 11, was later taken away by an ambulance, shouting "I can't feel my legs", according to Ms Vassell.

Ms Vassell said she performed CPR on the the female victim, but "it wasn't working". She added that the boy seemed fine, but "by the time I came back to speak to the little girl to say 'your brother is all right' he was passed out".

Ilya Baxter, 23, saw the police chase from his flat. He described seeing a white man aged between 18 and 25 running across the road around the corner from the crashed car, before police caught the man and handcuffed him.

"I heard the cars and saw someone pointing to the police where he went. I knocked on the window and pointed," he said, adding that the man had been hiding in some bushes.

Another witness described the accident as “horrific”.

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.

"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.

Metropolitan Police said in a statement: “At approximately 14:05hrs on Wednesday, 31 August a car was in collision with a number of members of the public in Lennard Road, SE20.

"The car was being pursued by police at the time of the collision."

Additional reporting by Press Association