Sickening sound as victims run down

IT was 15 seconds of horror where people were “being thrown like rag dolls”.

Witnesses described the chaos of seeing people “flying into the air” while others dodged the car and ran for their lives.

Then two final loud thuds. One last person being hit and then the tram stop bring the ordeal to an end.

But a trail of terror was left on the streets.

Melburnians united in the middle of Flinders St to help the injured on one of the city’s busiest crossings filled with more than 100 Christmas shoppers, workers, and tourists.

Lachlan Read said when he first headed thumping noises, he thought it was a tram.

“But when I turned around there was no tram – it was a car just hitting people.

“He had gone straight through the red light at pace and it was bang, bang, bang. It was just one after the other. The last bang the car stopped,” the 20-year-old said.

“There were bodies on the ground and people running up to them – it was mayhem.

“It is definitely something you don’t expect to see on Flinders St at 4.45pm.”

Another witness who called 000 said: “I saw people scramble away and saw some being thrown like rag dolls.”

Lawyer Sam Dempster saw the driver speed up, hit pedestrians and “shocking sounds” when they landed.

“I saw the car driving down Flinders St and it sped up, I looked up and it just mowed through all these people,’’ he said.

“I saw people flying in the air and bodies hit the ground, they weren’t moving.”

Another witness said police were on scene very quickly, rushing to the car to make sure the driver did not get away.

I SAW PEOPLE FLYING IN THE AIR AND BODIES HIT THE GROUND, THEY WEREN’T MOVING SAM DEMPSTER, WITNESS