Irish person injured after driver hits pedestrians in Melbourne

AN IRISH person was injured during an attack in Melbourne in which a man deliberately drove into a group of people.

The Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed it was aware of one Irish citizen hurt in the incident and was providing consular assistance.

However, no other details were available last night.

Around 19 people were injured, including a young child who suffered head injuries, after the car collided with pedestrians outside Flinders Street train station. Four are in a critical condition.

Police said they were treating the incident as a “deliberate act” and said they had arrested two men in connection with the incident.

A 25-year-old man was arrested after he was seen filming at the scene and had a bag of knives. However, it later emerged he was most likely not linked to the attacker.

It happened at around 5pm local time (6am Irish time) yesterday.

Gareth Flynn, originally from Trim, Co Meath, was in the area with his partner Jade, their baby daughter Freddy and his mother-in-law, who was visiting from Ireland. He said they missed the incident by just metres.

“We were walking down towards the junction where the incident happened,” he said.

“We were about 20 metres away from the area when we stopped at a shop to get sushi rolls, only for that we would have been right in the middle of it.

“We heard a massive bang, like an explosion, and then people began running towards us.”

Australian police said that the 32-year-old suspect driving the vehicle, an Australian citizen of Afghan origin, had a history of mental health problems and crime but was not linked to terrorism.