The sole survivor of a horror car crash that killed five teenagers has been identified as their devastated schoolmates leave tributes at the scene.
Tyrell Edwards, 18, had been behind the wheel of the Nissan Navara ute when it veered off the road and slammed into a tree in southwest Sydney on Tuesday night.
The P-plate driver was found beside the wreckage on East Parade, Buxton, a town of around 1000, near Picton, 100km southwest of the city.
He was the sole survivor of the crash that claimed the lives of five other teenagers who were aged between 14 and 16. All of the victims attended Picton High School.
Mr Edwards, a high school graduate, was transported to Liverpool Hospital with non life-threatening injuries to undergo mandatory testing.
Police said he remained under observation in hospital on Wednesday morning and was yet to be interviewed with police still awaiting his test results.
Three girls, two aged 14 and a 15-year-old, and two boys, aged 15 and 16, were found by first responders in the wreckage and sadly died at the scene.
The horror crash has sent shockwaves through the tight-knit town of Buxton as witnesses and devastated locals attempt to make sense of the tragedy.
Bouquets of flowers and handwritten notes have been left by Picton High students at the base of the tree the ute collided with just after 8pm last night.
Tyrell Edwards, 18, (pictured) had been behind the wheel of the Nissan Navara ute when it veered off the road and slammed into a tree in southwest Sydney on Tuesday night
Four schoolgirls laid bunches of flowers at the base of a tree at the crash site on Wednesday
Five teenagers have been killed in a horror crash around 100km southwest of Sydney
A shard of glass was still embedded in the eucalyptus tree struck by the ute on Wednesday morning as mourners, many in their Picton school uniforms, laid bunches of flowers at its base.
A handwritten tribute to one of the dead teenagers said they were ‘gone too soon’ and had brought ‘so much kindness to this world’.
A weeping teenage boy visited the site with a girl and adult woman who hugged him as they stood quietly observing the tragic scene.
An old set of car keys for a Subaru have been placed inside one of dozens of bunches of flowers left for the five young victims.
Year 9 classmate Elly Mount tearfully remembered the five teenagers who died and revealed how she almost went joined them on the fateful trip.
A weeping teenage boy visited the site with a girl and adult woman who hugged him as they stood quietly observing the tragic scene
Bunches of flowers have been left by mourners, many Picton High students, at the crash scene
‘They wanted me to hang out with them,’ Elly said after laying flowers at the crash site with her mother, Amy Cook.
Tears streaming down her face, Elly said she had been closest to two of the sisters, who were top school soccer players.
‘(One of my friends) was an amazing goalie. (Her) mum did everything for me, drove me to games.
‘I don’t feel like it’s real. I am not coping.
‘Who’s going to get up and get their trophies for soccer, their parents?’
Elly said the whole group she had almost gone out driving with, including the two boys, were in Year 9 or 10.
Just after 10.30am a flurry of groups of mourners arrived with flowers to add to the growing mass of cellophane and blooms at the base of the rash tree.
One teenage girl sobbed openly as she placed her flower bunch on top of the others, a woman and man tightly embraced for several minutes in a bush clearing across the road from the crash site.
Two teenage girls with yellow chrysamthemums and two boys with white flowers laid their tributes and were comforted by two adult women.
One mother apologised for not being able to speak saying, ‘I’m sorry. So sad. Too young.’
A handwritten tribute to one of the dead teenagers said they were ‘gone too soon’ and had brought ‘so much kindness to this world’ (pictured, mourners visit the scene)
On Wednesday, Picton High School (pictured) released a statement saying: ‘Our hearts go out to the family and friends of students involved in yesterday’s tragic accident
Camden Police Superintendent Paul Fuller said families of the victims rushed to the scene after hearing about the crash on social media (pictured, East Parade, Buxton)
Blayze Cox, one of the victim’s best friend, (left) said she was struggling to process the loss while her distressed mother (right) said she was ‘so upset’ about the ‘awful’ crash
Blayze Cox, a young girl who woke up on Wednesday without her ‘best friend’, fought back tears at the scene.
‘I’m feeling a bit shocked and still finding it hard to believe it. She was my best friend and like an older sister to me,’ she told the Today Show.
‘I didn’t know it would happen so quickly.’
Her mother was similarly distressed and at one point put her head in her hands.
‘I feel sorry for the family and I’m obviously worried about my girls. They’re so upset about the whole thing and so am I, it’s so awful,’ she said.
Blayze told Daily Mail Australia her friend was a ‘very energetic and kind hearted girl’.
‘She was 14 and loved to go to the beach, listen to country music and most of all she loved her friends and family dearly,’ she said.
‘I will remember her by her smile and her beautiful laugh.’
Not all of the teenagers had been formally identified as of Wednesday morning, as mourners arrive at the scene of the crash to pay their respects
The Nissan Navara veered off the road and slammed into a tree on East Parade, Buxton, a town of around 1000, near Picton, 100km southwest of Sydney
Paramedics were pictured wheeling the male driver towards an ambulance that took the 18-year-old to Liverpool Hospital for mandatory blood and urine testing (pictured)
Camden Police Superintendent Paul Fuller said families of the victims rushed to the scene after hearing about the crash on social media – and that alcohol was not believed to be a factor.
Supt Fuller said: ‘We had families turning up at the scene last night after finding out through social media … to identify their kids.’
He said not all of the teenagers had been formally identified as of Wednesday morning, and officers were working with the families.
‘It’s a horrific accident scene and a tragedy of this magnitude is going to have ripple effects … for their families, friends and through the local community,’ he said.
‘I’ve been in the police for 38 years and it’s one of the worst accident scenes I’ve ever come across.’
Confronting images from the scene showed the ute torn to pieces amid several trees as distraught locals were seen being interviewed by police.
On Wednesday, Picton High School released a statement saying: ‘Our hearts go out to the family and friends of students involved in yesterday’s tragic accident.
‘At Picton High we are prioritising support for our students as they come to terms with this terrible news. Extra counselling support and alternative arrangements will be in place to help our students through this.’
The accident (pictured) happened just after 8pm on Tuesday night. Police have confirmed all of the passengers who were inside the vehicle are teenagers
Police officers and emergency service workers are pictured at the crash scene on Tuesday
At the school, teenagers hugged and a girl was led crying from the campus.
Students were hurried into the campus where the NSW Department of Education is putting on additional counselling services.
Counselling will also be extended to first responders who attended the horror scene, some of whom would have recognised the victims.
A Buxton local, Stuart, who lives 12 doors down from the crash site said he heard a vehicle go past but would not say whether or not he thought it was speeding.
‘The road is quite narrow, there’s no street lights and the trees are half a metre off the road,’ he told Radio 2GB.
Mayor of Wollondilly Shire Matt Gould said his ‘entire shire is waking up in shock and mourning’ on Wednesday.
‘I don’t even have the words for how horrible this is,’ he said.
‘How do you even begin to process a loss like this? This is one of the most tragic accidents we have had in many many years.
‘We are a very close knot community. Our hearts go out to all the family and friends in the small village of Buxton.’
The Nissan Navara was seen crumpled against a tree from the impact of the horror smash
Local MP Nathaniel Smith said he had spoken with Picton High School’s school captain and that she had been ‘upset’.
He said the school community was taking the news ‘pretty hard’.
Superintendent Adam Druber told the Today Show that despite the best efforts of emergency crews ‘there wasn’t much anyone could do’ for the victims.
‘A complication around these types of incidents, especially in these communities, is a lot of the emergency service workers possibly know the victims, which adds that extra complexity to what we do in the community,’ he said.
In an official statement on Tuesday night NSW Police said: ‘Three female and two male passengers all believed to be of similar age, died at the scene.’
Fire and Rescue NSW said numerous emergency crews attended ‘at a serious crash on East Parade involving numerous casualties’.
A medical team that arrived by helicopter also attended.
Two distraught people are pictured at the scene of a crash that left at least five people dead
Officers from Camden Police Area Command established a crime scene, which is being examined by specialist police from the Crash Investigation Unit.
‘An investigation into the circumstances surrounding the crash is under way (and) a report will be prepared for the Coroner,’ a police spokesman said.
A man who lives near to the crash scene said he heard sirens shortly after the incident and saw a helicopter land in a nearby field.
‘We heard the emergency services vehicles responding really quickly and saw the lights flashing, it lit up the whole street,’ Justin Davis told The Daily Telegraph.
Mr Davis said the area is normally very quite.
‘Even when kids ride their motorbikes along the streets they do it quietly,’ he said.
While posting condolences to the families of the five teenagers, Wollondilly locals have questioned the legality of six people travelling in a ute together, and the safety and lighting on the road where the crash took place.
‘Such a dark part of Buxton roads,’ one posted on a Wollondilly Facebook page.
‘Honestly people use this as a race track,’ Louis G Ranga posted.
Police and other emergency services officers are pictured gathered close to the crash scene, which is taped off
‘I have tried go get speed bumps put in down here. It was just a matter of time.’
Another poster said: ‘They crashed on the south side of Orange Road. Everyone local knows to slow down for Orange when heading north down East Parade.’
Many expressed sympathy for the 18-year-old driver who survived saying ‘he’s going to have to live with this for the rest of his life.’
No other vehicles were involved in the crash, which happened near Buxton’s town centre.
Police are appealing for anyone with dashcam footage or information about this incident to contact them, or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.