UPDATED: This article now contains a statement from the Royal Children’s Hospital. [SYDNEY] A man deliberately drove into pedestrians, killing three and injuring at least 20 in the centre of Australia’s second largest city Melbourne on Friday, but police said the lunch-time incident was not terror-related. At 1:30 p.m. local time, a man was seen doing burnouts in the intersection outside the iconic Flinders Street Station in Melbourne before he drove along Swanston Street and entered the pedestrian-only section of Bourke Street Mall. The man then drove up a pedestrian mall, deliberately ploughing into people, Victoria state police said. “A male deliberately drove into pedestrians in the Bourke Street mall, and we currently have three deceased and at least 20 injuries,” Victoria Police acting commander Stuart Bateson told reporters. According to authorities, the man also allegedly abducted a woman he knows and held her hostage in his car — though she managed to escape before it plowed into the crowd. Mike O'Brien, the head surgeon at Royal Children's Hospital, tells The New York Times that four children have been hospitalized, including a 3-month-old in critical condition. I can also confirm that this is not a CT (counter-terrorism) related incident.” The incident was believed to be related to an overnight stabbing in the city, Commander Bateson added.
Three people are killed and twenty injured after a man drove a car into the Bourke Street Mall in the CBD of the Australian city Melbourne. A man has been arrested and Victoria Police say the incident is not terror related. In the next few weeks, the death toll would rise to six.