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4 dead, dozens injured after man drives into pedestrians in Melbourne mall

MELBOURNE – Three people died and 20 more were hurt on Friday (Jan 20) when a car ploughed into pedestrians in the Australian city of Melbourne, but police said it was not a terror attack.

The wreckage of a pram is seen on the footpath in front of a tram on a main street after a car hit pedestrians in central Melbourne, Australia, Jan 20, 2017. Photo: AAP via Reuters

The wreckage of a pram is seen on the footpath in front of a tram on a main street after a car hit pedestrians in central Melbourne, Australia, Jan 20, 2017. Photo: AAP via Reuters

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MELBOURNE — A car ploughed into pedestrians on a popular shopping strip in the heart of Australia’s second-largest city on Friday (Jan 20), killing four people including a young child and injuring dozens more.

Police said they were not treating the incident as an act of terrorism.

Witnesses described “bodies flying through the air” and people running out of the path of the speeding vehicle in the central mall area of Melbourne.

 

(Video from Twitter showing driver of the car being detained by security personnel. Video: @bwadamson/Twitter)

The incident comes amid global concern over extremists using vehicles to strike crowds, following truck attacks in Berlin and Nice in France last year. 

Police shot the 26-year-old male driver — who has a history of family violence, mental health and drug issues — in the arm and arrested him.

“This individual is not related to any counter-terrorism or any terrorism-related activities,” said Mr Graham Ashton, Chief Commissioner for the state of Victoria. 

“He is not on our books as having any connection with terrorism and we’re not regarding this as a terrorism-related incident. What we do know of the person is there is an extensive history of family violence involved.”

Those killed included a man and a woman in their 30s and a child whose age was not given for privacy reasons, said Mr Ashton. Twenty others were hurt. Five of them were in a critical condition, including an infant, he added.

The Royal Children’s Hospital said it was treating four children aged between three months and 12 years.

“The prayers and heartfelt sympathies of all Australians are with the victims and the families of the victims of this shocking crime in Melbourne today,” said Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in a statement.

Police believed the incident is connected to a stabbing that had occurred earlier in the day, where the driver had allegedly knifed his brother. 

Police had tried to intercept his car before it entered the city about 1.45pm local time and he was seen driving erratically outside Melbourne’s main train station in the afternoon.

“We witnessed about half a dozen people that ricocheted off the car one way or another. I saw one person fly up (to) almost roof level of the car as they got thrown up against one of the retail stores,” Ms Sharn Baylis told Reuters. 

“You could hear the gasping and the screaming from people, then you just started hearing the screams and the crying as it sunk in.” 

Heavily armed officers were deployed around the scene as television footage showed the badly damaged maroon-coloured car with the front doors open and the windscreen smashed.

A handcuffed man in his underwear was seen lying on a footpath surrounded by police. 

Other pictures showed an upturned baby pram. The child in the pram was one of the critically injured, said Mr Ashton. AGENCIES

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