Greenacre crash: 10 people injured after car smashes into hijab store in western Sydney

Ten people have been injured, at least one seriously, after a car crashed into a hijab store in Sydney’s west on Thursday afternoon.

Emergency services said they were treating a driver and nine pedestrians, after a people mover van drove into Hijab House in Greenacre, on the corner of Waterloo and Boronia roads, shortly after 3pm on Thursday.

Those injured in the store were mostly women, aged between 18 and 30, the New South Wales ambulance service said. Police said one person was seriously injured and another potentially seriously injured, but none of the injuries was considered life-threatening.

Vision circulating on social media showed a dark Mitsubishi four-wheeldrive, its tyres smoking, burning rubber in stopped traffic, pushing a white sedan in front of it into the intersection.

The Mitsubishi then appeared to accelerate straight into the glass doors at the front of the shop.

NSW police said there was no initial indication the crash was terror-related, but that the driver was known to police for “traffic matters”.

The 51-year-old male driver of the van was taken to hospital under arrest, where he was undergoing blood and urine tests, police said. He had spoken to police briefly but had not been formally interviewed. It is understood he was uninjured.

Assistant Commissioner Peter Thurtell said the cause of the crash was unclear.

“We don’t know whether there was intent at all at this stage, it’s too early in the investigation to say, but we will be exploring all avenues.

“I’ve seen the footage, quite clearly from the footage he’s pushing the vehicle in front of him quite hard in order to smoke the tyres like that, but what has caused that to happen I can’t say.

“At this stage we have crash investigation and detectives investigating the matter … we do know he is known for traffic matters, but that’s it.

“There’s no information that’s been given to me that there’s any medical episode.”

Video footage shot from inside the store following the accident showed women lying on the floor with blood on their feet. One woman cradled another as she held her hand over her face.

The footage showed men picking through the rubble as a man in a white tracksuit and cap sat in the driver’s seat of the car.

Thurtell said there were multiple injuries: “Unfortunately 10 people in or close to the vicinity of the [Hijab] House have been taken to hospital.

“One person has serious leg injuries and possibly a second person with serious injuries.

“I’m grateful no one was killed, very grateful.”

Amer Kourouche, a real estate agent who works across the road from Hijab House, said he was inside when he heard the noise from the accident. “I ran outside and saw the car had gone through the shop,” he said. “There was a lot of glass everywhere, people gathering around. My colleagues went in to try and help the people inside.

“There was some women bleeding on the floor of the shop and I think one was trapped. I’m not sure if they were bleeding because of the accident or because of the glass. The driver, he was trapped as well.”

Shahmar Abas, who works at a juice stand on the corner opposite Hijab House, said he watched as smoke poured from one of the cars before it drove into the store.

“I saw everything. I was at the traffic lights and there was smoke coming everywhere. Huge smoke. Very heavy smoke,” he said.

“Then the other car, the white one in front, moves away and he shot away from the traffic light and I don’t know if he lost control or what. I went over there after and I see a few people, one of them looked unconscious.”

Hijab House said both customers and staff had been injured. “The community is shaken and management is working to make sense of this tragedy,” it said in a statement posted on Facebook. “The important thing is everyone is still alive.”

Fire and Rescue NSW said one person was trapped inside the car following the crash.

The intersection remained closed off as of 6:20pm, with the 2004 Mitsubishi four-wheel-drive still at the storefront.

Police were yet to interview the driver and lay any charges, though he remained under arrest.