Five people, including two children, have died after a car ploughed into a popular pub in the Victorian suburb of Daylesford.
Police say the BMW SUV mounted the kerb before crashing into the beer garden of the Royal Daylesford Hotel just after 6pm on Sunday.
Despite desperate efforts by emergency crews, two men, a woman, and two children could not be saved and died, while a third child remains in a critical condition in hospital.
All of the victims are yet to be formally identified.
Road Policing Command Superintendent John Fitzpatrick said it was a horrific scene.
“I haven’t seen something this drastic for a long time… any time you have five people die at the one scene it’s horrible,” he said.
“We don’t like to see anyone lose their life but to see a child – you never want to see anything like that”.
The driver of the vehicle, a 66-year-old man, was taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries and is expected to be interviewed by detectives today.
Police say the exact circumstances surrounding the collision are yet to be determined and investigations remain ongoing.
