A person is dead and several others are injured after a car struck pedestrians and two other vehicles in Melbourne’s CBD on Friday evening.
The vehicle struck the pedestrians on Bourke Street, near the corner of Swanston Street, before crashing into two cars near the corner of Russell Street about 6.30pm on Friday, Victoria police said.
The driver of the vehicle was arrested at the scene and is in custody.
Footage shared on social media shows a man, dressed in all white, sitting on top of the vehicle before being arrested.
Speaking at the scene, Supt Zorka Dunstan said there was nothing to suggest that the incident was linked to terrorism.
Dunstan said the driver had struck the three pedestrians near a tram stop before continuing along Bourke Street. The car then crashed into a Mazda and a Hyundai.
“The driver of the Hyundai is deceased and the occupants of the Mazda have been transported to hospital with minor injuries,” Dunstan said.
Police said the driver of the Hyundai, a 76-year-old man from Brunswick, died at the scene.
A 26-year-old Melton West man is in custody and is undergoing a mental health assessment, Dunstan said. She said the man was known to police and has had “some mental health interactions”.
Police said there was no ongoing threat to the community.
In a video circulating on social media, two people can be seen lying on the ground near the tram tracks as others run for help.
One witness, who was walking along Russell Street, said: “We heard it, it was a huge bang.”
As at 9.30pm, three damaged vehicles could still be seen in Bourke Street. One of the vehicles was covered in a blue tarpaulin.
The roads around the intersection were cordoned off and police are keeping a heavy presence in the area.
There was glass across the intersection.
A spokesperson for Ambulance Victoria said paramedics had treated five people at the scene.
In an update on Saturday, police said a 26-year-old man from Kew, a 23-year-old woman from China and a 35-year-old woman from Docklands have been taken to hospital. Two were in a stable condition and the other in a serious condition.
Police closed Bourke Street between Swanston Street and Exhibition Street on Friday night.
