A routine school run ended with five children and four adults, including a lollipop lady, injured after a car ploughed into pedestrians. One of the children, a nine-year-old girl, was in intensive care and the lollipop lady was trapped under the Audi saloon, which ended up on its roof.
Police were waiting to interview the 61-year-old driver, who was also hurt, but one theory is that he accidentally hit the accelerator during a coughing fit shortly after dropping his granddaughter off at the village school and lost control after hitting a speed bump.
Officers said they would speak to the driver as soon as he was well enough but did not believe he had deliberately targeted children or adults.
The incident happened shortly before 9am on Thursday as dozens of parents and children headed to the primary school in the village of Rhoose, near Cardiff.
Shelly Morgan-Stone, 33, who was with her seven-year-old son, Archie, said: "I saw something out of the corner my eye and as I turned it looked like the car was flying through the air – that's the only way to describe it. I heard a horrific screaming followed by the crash of metal and the sound of breaking glass.
"One mother was on the floor on her knees, leaning over her child, wailing. It was horrible. I will never forget the sound of the mothers screaming."
She said she had often seen the driver on the morning school run. Morgan-Stone said: "He goes past the school every day – it's a very recognisable car. It's driven sensibly and within the speed limit."
Vincenzo Springett, 11, said: "I just turned on to the road when I saw the car come past me. I couldn't understand why it seemed to be speeding up as it approached the traffic lights.
"I saw the car tip and roll over and on its roof – then everyone was just running and screaming."
His mother, Rebecca, 43, said: "Everyone's just in shock. It's such a small village. You think your kids are safe going to school."
Another mother, Natalie Morgan, 35, said: "I was on the scene within a minute of it all happening and the children were very distraught and upset. I tried to hide what had happened from my daughter and took her in because the school wanted to carry on as usual.
"I've been concerned for a long time that something like this could happen, even if it doesn't prove to be speeding. Cars speed back to and from the school in both directions all the time. Something needs to be done about that."
Glenys Watson, 64, who runs the Coffee Time cafe close to the site of the accident, said that in the confused aftermath some mothers thought a gun had been fired and a shout went out for people to "run".
She added: "One mother told me that people heard a big bang and thought a gun had been fired. They all ran. Nobody knew what was happening."
Rhoose councillor Jeff James said he had been told the driver had a coughing fit close to the pedestrian crossing where the incident happened.
"A driver was manoeuvring just in front of the pedestrian crossing and had a coughing fit. He put his foot down on the accelerator instead of the brake. The car shot forward and hit the lollipop lady and several children."
The lollipop lady, Karin Williams, 50, recently won a road safety award run by the Vale of Glamorgan council.
The citation for her award said: "She has a wonderful rapport with the children and parents and always has a small gathering at her crossing point."
A spokeswoman for the Welsh ambulance service said most of the children had suffered head or abdominal injuries. According to the Vale of Glamorgan MP, Alun Cairns, three of the nine injuries were significant but not life-threatening.