Three dead and child, 3, hit after car smashes into hotel beer garden

Three people have been killed after a car smashed into a hotel beer garden in Australia with several more left injured including a three-year-old child.

The fatal incident happened at around 6pm local time Sunday, when the white BMW X5 crashed into the Royal Hotel in Daylesford. Three people are thought to have been killed in the crash with several more injured. Children, including a three-year-old toddler, were among the victims though it's unknown if the tot was killed. However, a six-year-old boy and a teen girl were counted among the fatalities.

Rhonda White, a Daylesford resident for four decades, said she watched as people were vaporised into gory clouds of blood when the car ploughed into them at speed.

She recalled: "There were bodies everywhere, it was horrifying. I watched the whole crash. The car went up into the sky. I thought it was just dust. It's only now I know it was bodies." Locals said the pub was busy all weekend and the courtyard was "packed" at the time of the crash.

A woman from a nearby business said she and her staff were in a state of shock and "shaken up" after seeing bodies lining the pavement. "We're all pretty shocked," she said. "It's pretty bad, I've never seen anything so traumatic in my life."

Missing radioactive capsule found after huge search - and it's the size of a pea

An eyewitness to the crash itself noted that the driver could be seen still seated in the car for up to 10 minutes after he ploughed into the beer garden.

A pizza restaurateur said she rushed out of her establishment after hearing a "loud bang". "'There was some kind of collision in the roundabout, I don't know how many cars were involved,' the restaurant owner, Kitty Martin told the Herald Sun.

In addition to the fatalities, another seven people were rushed to hospital, including four critical victims who had to be airlifted out. One of them was the driver, identified only as a 67-year-old man from Mt Macedon. Police are waiting to interview him.

A large emergency response was seen at the pub and the police have asked members of the public to avoid the area. Road users with dashcam footage of the incident are being asked to contact the police. Four air ambulances were dispatched to pick up the injured parties with police and multiple road ambulances also rushing to the scene.

Local MP Catherine King shared her condolences on Twitter. She said: "My thoughts are with all those at the scene, their friends and families and the broader Daylesford community. Please follow all the advice from emergency services as crews undertake their work."

The police in Victoria earlier released a statement, saying: "Emergency services are currently at the scene of a serious crash in Vincent Street Daylesford. As emergency services need access to the scene we ask that members of the public avoid the area. Police are putting diversions in place."

Superintendent John Fitzpatrick from Victoria Police's Road Policing Command added that it had been a "long time" since he'd seen something this "drastic". "Any time you have five people die at the one scene it’s horrible," he said.