US

Five children ranging from eight to 17 years of age have died following a crash in the US.

Police believe the vehicle was being driven by a 16-year-old boy when it veered off Hutchinson River Parkway, Scarsdale, New York.

The vehicle then hit a tree and caught fire early on Sunday morning.

The identities of those killed have not been released.

But the victims are understood to include four boys and a girl from Connecticut, a state to the west of New York, according to NBC.

The sixth person in the car, a nine-year-old boy, was the only survivor.

He was taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries, a spokesperson for Westchester County Police said.

Police added that he was in the back of the car when it crashed and was able to escape.

Read more:
Gunman running from police is caught by passing citizen
What is going to happen if Donald Trump is arrested?

Millions of rats in New York could carry COVID

The superintendent of schools in Derby, Connecticut, said he learned the children were part of a family that recently moved to the county from New York.

“It’s the unimaginable,” Matthew Conway Jr. said.

“Having to now make arrangements for five of your children to be buried is a very difficult thing for anyone – one child, never mind five that you’re going to have to now make arrangements for,” Mr Conway added.

He said he had reached out to the father, offering support and information.