Seven children and two adults were injured on Thursday when a vehicle crashed into a private elementary school for girls in the southwestern London suburb of Wimbledon, the authorities said.
The police and emergency services were called to the school, called the Study Prep, just before 10 a.m. after reports of a collision at a school building, officials said, and ambulances treated the injured at the scene.
The crash, about a mile from where the Wimbledon tennis tournament was being held, was not being treated as terrorism-related, the Metropolitan Police, the force that covers London, said in a statement.
The driver of the car — a Land Rover, according to aerial photographs — was not arrested.
Although the authorities did not immediately describe the condition of those injured, helicopter ambulances, which are generally called out only to treat the seriously hurt, were in attendance.
The police cordoned off surrounding streets and urged the public to avoid the area to ease access for emergency services. Firefighters were also at the scene.
The Study Prep, in a quiet residential area of London close to parks and a golf course, offers classes to girls aged 4 to 11. The school’s website lists its fees as about $21,000 per year.
The Metropolitan Police said that officers had opened an investigation to understand “the full circumstances” that led to the crash.
Most students in Britain finish classes this month for the summer vacation. Stephen Hammond, the member of Parliament whose district includes Wimbledon, told the BBC that the crash was “extremely distressing and extremely concerning.”
Gillian Keegan, the education secretary, wrote on Twitter, “My thoughts are with families, staff and the community involved and I am hugely grateful for the fast action of the emergency services who are currently at the scene.”
