Sydney, 6 November 2023 (dpa/MIA) - Five people, including two minors, died after a car crashed into a pub's beer garden in the Australian state of Victoria, police said on Monday.

Victoria Police said emergency services were called to the pub in Daylesford, some 100 kilometres north-west of Melbourne, "to reports a BMW SUV mounted the kerb and struck a number of patrons on the front lawn area of a licensed premises."

Police said that two men, a woman and two minors died. Two adults and two boys were taken to hospital, one of them with critical injuries.

The 66-year-old driver was also taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, police said, adding that investigations into the circumstances of the collision were ongoing.

"The reports of the Daylesford car crash are horrific," said Victoria Premier Jacinta Allan in a post on X, formerly Twitter. "My thoughts are with all those injured, and with the friends and family of those who have tragically died."

"The exact circumstances surrounding the collision are yet to be determined and investigations remain ongoing," Allan added.

Photo: EPA