Australia: Man charged after pedestrian killed in Sydney crash

Sydney, April 30 (IANS/GURPUNEET SIDHU) A man has been charged after a pedestrian was killed in a crash in Sydney’s southern suburbs, police in Australia’s state of New South Wales (NSW) said on Wednesday.

Emergency services were called to reports of the crash in Blakehurst, about 16 km south of central Sydney, shortly before 7 p.m. local time on Tuesday and found a 60-year-old woman had been hit by a car, Xinhua news agency reported.

She was treated by ambulance paramedics but died at the scene.

The driver of the vehicle, a 28-year-old man, was uninjured but was taken to hospital for mandatory testing.

Following release from hospital, the 28-year-old was arrested and taken to a police station where he was charged with dangerous driving occasioning death and negligent driving occasioning death.

If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 10 years’ imprisonment for the first charge and 18 months’ imprisonment for the second.

NSW Police said the crash unit has commenced an investigation into the circumstances of the crash and that a report on the woman’s death will be prepared for the state coroner.

In a separate incident Police in the Australian state of Queensland are searching for the driver of a stolen car who killed a cyclist in a hit and run incident on Tuesday.

The Queensland Police Service said in a statement on Wednesday that a 34-year-old man was riding a bicycle in the city of Bundaberg, about 290 km north of Brisbane, when he was struck by a black vehicle at about 7:50 p.m. local time on Tuesday.

Emergency services performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation on the cyclist, but he was declared deceased at the scene.

The police said that the vehicle, which had been stolen, fled the scene and was found abandoned a short time later. A search for the driver is ongoing.

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