A 39-year-old woman has died after she was struck at the cafe. Photo / News Corp Australia
A 39-year-old woman has died after she was struck at the cafe. Photo / News Corp Australia
One woman has died after suffering critical stomach injuries when a car ploughed into a cafe in Sydney's northwest while she was having coffee with friends.
Nine others were treated at the scene and four were taken to hospital in a stable condition.
The Holden Commodore lurched into tables outside Cafe Si:Zac after 10am today, at the corner of Malton Rd and Roma St in North Epping, police said.
The scene. Photo / News Corp Australia
"They were just enjoying a meeting together, having coffee, and they were struck by this vehicle," Detective Inspector Mark Christie told reporters this afternoon.
He said the critically injured 39-year-old woman died in hospital with her family by her side.
Witnesses told Seven News a mothers' group had been sitting outside the cafe at the time after dropping their children off at the local primary school.
One woman at the scene could be seen crying and clutching her hand over her face while on the phone after the incident.
"The scene was absolutely frantic for emergency services – there was carnage everywhere when we arrived," NSW Ambulance Superintendent Steve Vaughan told The Sydney Morning Herald.
Local police have spoken to an 89-year-old man who was driving the car. He was taken to Ryde Hospital for mandatory testing but did not suffer any injuries.
"It appears that he's pulled into the parking spot and then there's been some sort of collision after that but we don't know the circumstances … it's still under investigation," Insp Christie said.
"The car has gone over that retaining wall and collided with the patrons at the cafe."
He said the site of the "very tragic set of circumstances" was "just a small local cafe" in a suburban shopping centre.
"It was obviously a horrendous and chaotic scene … quite a hectic scene," Insp Christie said.
Multiple ambulance crews rushed to treat 10 people with injuries.
The aftermath at the cafe. Photo / News Corp Australia
In an updated statement this afternoon, NSW Police said the 39-year-old woman who suffered critical abdominal injuries and was taken to Royal North Shore Hospital had died.
Supt Vaughan said two of the other four people hospitalised had leg injuries and the other two had minor injuries.
He said ambulance crews arrived to find "a number of patients spread across the scene".
"When you get a call like this, you can't help but think the worst, then all of a sudden your training kicks in and you find yourself thinking about the best way to triage and treat the patients, while managing the scene," he said.
