Several people have been injured after a car ploughed into a crowd gathered to farewell the Newcastle Knights ahead of the NRL grand final on Saturday morning.
Emergency services rushed to Newcastle Link Road at Wallsend about 9.30am following reports a vehicle had struck pedestrians gathered along the team’s planned departure route.
NSW Premier Chris Minns described the incident as “heartbreaking” as emergency crews continued to respond.
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“Emergency services are on the ground in Newcastle after a serious traffic incident involving pedestrians.
“It’s heartbreaking to see fans who were sending off their grand final team involved in such a terrible incident.”
The crowd had gathered to farewell the Knights as the team left Newcastle ahead of Sunday’s NRL grand final against the Sydney Roosters at Accor Stadium.
The serious incident forced the Knights to abandon part of their planned route.
“Due to a major incident, the team bus has been diverted from the planned route,” the Knights said in a social media post.
“We apologise to anybody who was waiting and missed the boys, but public safety is our priority.”
NSW Ambulance confirmed multiple people had been injured, with a major emergency response launched at the scene.
Ten ambulances and three helicopters were initially deployed, with paramedics and police treating a number of people.
Newcastle Link Road was closed as emergency crews responded to the incident.
