9 injured as car rams crowd of rugby fans in Australia, driver likely lost control

Gavin Morris, the mayor of Newcastle, said that nine people had been injured after the driver lost control while revving his car before the team arrived.

Updated on: Oct 3, 2026, 08:22:05 IST

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A car rammed into a crowd standing on a road to cheer on the Newcastle Knights rugby team north of Sydney on Saturday, injuring multiple people, Associated Press reported, citing Australian officials.

New South Wales Ambulance officials said the incident occurred on Saturday morning and that several people were being treated at the scene. Two of those injured were taken to the hospital in a critical condition, Reuters quoted a spokesperson as saying.

The driver was arrested at the scene in the city's suburb of Wallsend, about 110 kilometres north of the New South Wales state capital. Police said initial indications suggested the incident was not terrorism related, Reuters reported.

Gavin Morris, the mayor of Newcastle, told the ABC News that nine people had been injured after the driver, who he said was a Knights fan, lost control while revving his car shortly before the team arrived.

What happened?

The fans were waiting on Saturday for the team bus ahead of a rugby league finals match on Sunday.

“I’ve spoken to the authorities, a number of which, and look, first of all, it is under investigation, and the young driver is now with police, so it appears that he was revving the car in some form. He was excited. He was a supporter. He was, you know, a fan,” Morris said.

“It appears that he’s lost control of the car, and he’s gone into the crowd. And I believe about nine were injured, which sadly also included children [after] … he’s gone sideways into the crowd,” the mayor added.

Thousands had been cheering the team on this week as they trained, the Australian Associated Press reported. Another large crowd was on the street Saturday morning to see the team bus off ahead of Sunday's finals.

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