Car plows into crowd of pedestrians
19 injured in Melbourne attack
A man drove a car into a crowd at one of Melbourne’s busiest intersections Thursday, leaving 19 people injured.
The 32- year- old, wearing jeans and a white T- shirt, crashed his car into a tram stop i n an i ncident that raises fresh questions about public security.
Police said that the driver, an Australian citizen of Afghan descent, aimed his white SUV at a pedestrian crossing outside Flinders Street station, one of the city’s main transportation hubs. The incident occurred during the busy afternoon shopping rush.
Police said the man had a history of drug abuse and mental health problems and was not believed to have been motivated by extremism.
Witnesses described a horrific scene.
“I was crossing Flinders Street on the way to the train station. I heard an engine rev behind me and heard a thump,” one man identified only as David said on ABC TV. He said he turned around saw “people literally getting thrown into the air as it hit them.”
Early reports said there were two men in the car, but Victoria state police acting commissioner Shane Patton confirmed the suspect was driving alone.
Confusion had arisen when a second man was seen being apprehended alongside the driver. Patton said he was a 24- year- old man seen filming the incident on his mobile phone and found carrying a bag with three knives.
Patton said that man was taken into custody to determine whether he was connected. “At this stage, we don’t believe that to be the case,” he said.
An off- duty police officer brought the incident to a halt when he rushed the vehicle and subdued the occupant. Both men were injured in the scuffle. A store owner near the scene told ABC Radio: “The only thing that seemed to be slowing him down was the amount of pedestrians he had hit.
“All you could hear was just ‘ bang bang bang bang bang.’ ”
The attack has raised fresh questions about how to secure busy thoroughfares, particularly as the latest incident occurred near Bourke Street, where a driver killed six people in January. Authorities installed temporary concrete bollards across the city as a result.
Daniel Andrews, Victoria’s state premier, said authorities would consider further security measures but added it was virtually impossible to protect some thoroughfares.
Andrews praised the offduty sergeant who arrested the driver.
“We would be right to single him out for special praise for the way in which he instinctively came to the aid of others,” he said. “At a time when families are doing their Christmas shopping, making plans for what should be a festive season, we have seen a horrific act, an evil act, an act of cowardice.”
THE ONLY THING THAT SEEMED TO BE SLOWING HIM DOWN WAS THE AMOUNT OF PEDESTRIANS HE HAD HIT.