Pedestrians mowed down by SUV in Melbourne
A small child has been taken to The Royal Children’s Hospital with serious head injuries, along with six other people, and 13 people have been treated by paramedics after a car ploughed through city workers and Christmas shoppers at one of Melbourne’s busiest intersections.
Two men have been arrested over the incident by Victoria police, with Sky News reporting one of them eas wrestled to the ground as he was apprehended.
Witnesses reported seeing a fast-moving white Suzuki Grand Vitara four wheel drive slam into pedestrians crossing Flinders Street, at the Elizabeth Street intersection, at 4:42pm.
Ambulance Victoria confirmed that seven people had been hospitalised with three taken to the Alfred Hospital and three to the Royal Melbourne Hospital.Emergency services are attending a chaotic scene, with witnesses describing the terrifying moment when the white car careered into pedestrians without warning.
“We could hear this noise coming from Swanston Street,’’ said Sue, who was working at a nearby doughnut shop.
“We see this white car and as it approaches this intersection here, Flinders Street and Elizabeth Street … it just mowed everyone down,’’ she told Radio 3AW. “People are crying everywhere. People are just on the road.
“The car must have hit something in middle of the road, the tram stop in the middle, and just ended up on the left side of the road.
“It didn’t seem like he was braking, nothing. He just mowed everyone down at the crossing.’’
Flinders St shopkeeper Vince said he arrived at the crash site two minutes after the car rammed the pedestrians.
“No screaming, just people lying there and people attending them,” he said.
He said there were “bodies everywhere” and lots of people trying to help.
“Just holding them and comforting them, not moving them but keeping them comfortable.”
Vince said the police arrived quickly but he didn’t see any drawn guns.
He described the afternoon tragedy as “more dramatic” than January’s Bourke St rampage because it happened at a pedestrian crossing.
Vince said he saw a white SUV with a shattered windshield lying against the tram embankment and six or eight bodies on the ground before emergency services arrived.
Victoria Police advised at 5pm that they had arrested the driver of the car.
“Police are currently attending an incident on Flinders Street between Elizabeth and Swanston streets where a vehicle has collided with a number of pedestrians. Police have arrested the driver of the car. Extent of injuries are not known at this stage,” a Victoria Police announcement read on Twitter.
“Police are asking any witnesses to go to the Melbourne West Police Station at 313 Spencer Street, Melbourne and all vehicular and pedestrian traffic to avoid the area.”
At 5:30pm police issued a new statement saying they had “saturated the area” to ensure community safety.
“A number of people are being treated at the scene for any witnesses to attend the Melbourne
West Police Station at 313 Spencer Street, Melbourne.
Support services are also available at Melbourne West Police Station, the police said.
Police are continuing to push pedestrians out of the inner area around the accident and are steadily blocking off streets spreading out from the accident zone.
Commuters are being instructed to head to Melbourne Central Station.
Yarra Trams have cancelled services to the area pending an emergency services request, and have urged commuters in the area to use train services to move between Flinders Street station and Melbourne Central, Richmond and Jolimont station.