Melbourne police still searching for car attack motive
Melbourne police are still trying to work out the motive after a car was driven deliberately into a crowd of pedestrians.
Police arrested two people after incident in a Melbourne tourist district, colliding with a number of pedestrians.
Ambulance services say there are at least 19 injured people, some seriously, have been taken to hospital. Two more people were assessed by paramedics at the scene.
One of the seriously injured is a young boy.
The incident happened on Flinders Street, between Elizabeth and Swanston Streets, which is a busy junction in the city centre.
The driver of the white SUV and another man have been detained.
Victoria police said it was a deliberate act but not terror-related, although he did cite ‘mistreatment of muslims’ after his arrest.’
They have confirmed the driver, an Australian citizen of Afghan descent, was a drug user with mental health issues but with no known terrorism links.
"He has a history of drug use and mental illness," as well as past convictions for assualt, said Victoria police acting chief commissioner Shane Patton.
A second man, 24, was arrested after being seen filming the incident. He had a bag of knives in his possession, police added.
Police are appealing for witnesses who have video or photographic evidence to make it available to investigators.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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