Several injured when car hits pedestrians in Australia's Melbourne - officials

[webfact]

Several injured when car hits pedestrians in Australia's Melbourne - officials

 

Members of the public stand behind police tape after Australian police said on Thursday they have arrested the driver of a vehicle that ploughed into pedestrians at a crowded intersection near the Flinders Street train station in central Melbourne, Australia December 21, 2017. REUTERS/Melanie Burton

 

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Australian police said on Thursday they have arrested the driver of a vehicle that ploughed into pedestrians at a crowded intersection in the southern city of Melbourne, with as many as 12 people injured.

 

Police in Australia's second-largest city did not give any possible motive for the incident, which had chilling echoes of a similar case when four people were killed and more than 20 injured in the same city in January.

 

Ambulance Victoria said in a statement it was assessing 12 people at the scene. Two people had been taken to hospital, including a pre-school child with a head injury.

 

Australian media outlets put the number of injured between 5 and 16, although police had not yet put a figure on how many people had been hurt. Major streets in cities such as Melbourne and Sydney have been packed with holiday shoppers this week.

 

"Extent of injuries are not known at this stage," Victorian state police said of Thursday's incident on their official Twitter account.

 

Police said the January incident was not terror-related, although it led to Melbourne and other cities ramping up security measures in pedestrian areas in major cities.

 

That incident followed a series of terror-related attacks in Europe where vehicles were used to mow down pedestrians.

 

(Reporting by Melanie Burton in MELBOURNE and Jonathan Barrett in SYDNEY; Editing by Paul Tait)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-12-21

[webfact]

Car ploughs into pedestrians in Australia's Melbourne, up to 15 hurt

By Melanie Burton and Jonathan Barrett

 

Australian police stand near a crashed vehicle after they arrested the driver of a vehicle that had ploughed into pedestrians at a crowded intersection near the Flinders Street train station in central Melbourne, Australia December 21, 2017. REUTERS/Luis Ascui

 

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - A car ploughed into pedestrians at a crowded intersection in the Australian city of Melbourne on Thursday, injuring up to 15 people, police said, adding they had arrested the driver and a second man.

 

Police did not suggest a possible motive for the incident, which had chilling echoes of several attacks by Islamist militants in various parts of the world over the past year or two.

 

The Victoria State ambulance service said it had taken 13 people to hospital, including a pre-school child with a serious head injury, while two people were being treated at the scene.

 

"The driver of the vehicle and a second man have been arrested and are in police custody," police said in a statement, adding that a crime scene had been established.

 

In January, four people were killed and more than 20 injured when a man deliberately drove into pedestrians at a spot just a few hundred metres away from the Thursday incident.

 

Police said the January incident was not terrorism-related.

 

Major streets in Australian cities have been packed with holiday shoppers this week.

 

The incident took place on Flinders street, a major road that runs alongside the Yarra River.

 

A Reuters witness said a white sports utility vehicle came to a halt at a busy intersection where commuters enter and exit the busy city Flinders Street railway station.

 

"It's delayed traffic, trains, trams, everyone's getting diverted," the Reuters witness said, who saw four police cars, two paramedic vehicles, one ambulance and a fire truck at the scene.

 

(Reporting by Melanie Burton in MELBOURNE and Jonathan Barrett in SYDNEY; Editing by Paul Tait, Robert Birsel)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-12-21

[webfact]

Australian police say car that hit pedestrians in Melbourne was a deliberate act

 

SYDNEY (Reuters) - A car was deliberately driven into pedestrians in the Australian city of Melbourne on Thursday, injuring up to 14 people, though the motive was not known, police said.

 

"We believe based on what we have seen that it is a deliberate act," Victorian Police commander Russell Barrett told media in Melbourne.

 

"The motivations are unknown."

 

(Reporting by Jonathan Barrett; Editing by Robert Birsel)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-12-21

[Thechook]

This is the busiest area of The melbourne CBD and second such incident in 11 months

[balo]

Here we go again.....

[Thechook]

[Kadilo]

BBC news say some are critical. Let's hope and pray everyone pulls through and makes a full recovery. Thoughts are with all the injured and their families.


Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect

[Thechook]

Vehicles now seem to be the choice of weapons for terrorists.

[Kadilo]

1 minute ago, Thechook said:

Vehicles now seem to be the choice of weapons for terrorists.

They started putting up concrete bollards in London after the latest one there but can you seriously think they can do it in every busy pedestrian area. It's such an easy target. 

[Thechook]

5 minutes ago, Kadilo said:

They started putting up concrete bollards in London after the latest one there but can you seriously think they can do it in every busy pedestrian area. It's such an easy target. 

They have put them up in Melbourne also but it is impossible to put them up in this area as trams run through it.

[metisdead]

A post containing a link in which the link must be downloaded to view has been removed.  

 

15) Any links posted must lead to the website the link indicates. Links that are misleading or direct to a site different than the one indicated are not allowed.

[stevenl]

41 minutes ago, Thechook said:

They have put them up in Melbourne also but it is impossible to put them up in this area as trams run through it.

Retractable ones are possible though.

[smutcakes]

Hopefully the injured and the obviously sick perpetrators get the help they need after this tragic event.

[simple1]

1 hour ago, Thechook said:

This is the busiest area of The melbourne CBD and second such incident in 11 months

The first incident resulting in deaths was not an Islamist attack.. Police announcement at time of this post on the OP currently does indicate a possible Islamist incident, with the Afghan attacker having a criminal background with drugs and being treated for mental health issues, though at this stage not formally identified as a terror attack.  Someone else was being questioned, but already decided not linked to the attacker. Thankfully so far no deaths announced, but four victims critically injured.

[Thechook]

1 minute ago, simple1 said:

The first incident resulting in deaths was not an Islamist attack.. Police announcement at time of this post on the OP does indicate an Islamist incident, will the Afghan attacker having a criminal background and an accomplice filming the attack. Thankfully so far no deaths announced, but two victims critically injured.

The first incident the offender yelled allah Akbar whilst doing burnouts on the intersection of Swanton and Flinders streets before killing people in Burke Street.  Yes this guy today was an Afghan refugee, as was the guy who filmed his actions both muslims.  Well done to Victoria Police and the off duty officer who dragged this piece of excrement from the vehicle and arrested him.  He was injured in the process and taken to hospital.

[RickBradford]

34 minutes ago, simple1 said:

The first incident resulting in deaths was not an Islamist attack.. Police announcement at time of this post on the OP currently does indicate a possible Islamist incident, with the Afghan attacker having a criminal background with drugs and being treated for mental health issues, though at this stage not formally identified as a terror attack.  Someone else was being questioned, but already decided not linked to the attacker. Thankfully so far no deaths announced, but four victims critically injured.

Ah, yes, the old 'mental health' excuse. Next will be the invocation of the Australian citizenship.

 

I can see the headline now: "SUV driven by mentally ill Australian strikes pedestrians".

 

The prohibition on having a genuine debate about Islamic terrorism in Western countries has one undeniable effect. It emboldens far Right-wing extremists and pushes them towards actions beyond mere rhetoric.

[tifino]

Coincidence? - only last week or so, a terrorist/crash scenario exercise was enacted just near there

 

Upon reading the OP, I at first thought there must have been some crossed wires, in some sort of late-reporting that exercise as real!

 

... instead - a copycat has played his hand, for real

[stevenl]

13 minutes ago, RickBradford said:

Ah, yes, the old 'mental health' excuse. Next will be the invocation of the Australian citizenship.

 

I can see the headline now: "SUV driven by mentally ill Australian strikes pedestrians".

 

The prohibition on having a genuine debate about Islamic terrorism in Western countries has one undeniable effect. It emboldens far Right-wing extremists and pushes them towards actions beyond mere rhetoric.

You're confused, mental health is the excuse for white terrorist attacks, which are not called terrorist attacks btw.

In this case there seem to be real mental health issues.

[RickBradford]

27 minutes ago, stevenl said:

In this case there seem to be real mental health issues.

Yes, there always seem to be "real mental health issues" when the alternative is the danger of having to have a real debate about Islamic terrorism in the West.

 

Either that, or the perp is described in the media as a "Norwegian terrorist", even though they were Somali refugees who managed to gain Norwegian citizenship through the use of false statements.

 

Anything to prevent the real topic being publicly aired and discussed.

 

And that is: Why does the West knowingly import these terrorists and put their own citizens at greater risk? No wonder Douglas Murray has called his book The Strange Death of Europe.

 

 

[thaibeachlovers]

3 hours ago, Kadilo said:

They started putting up concrete bollards in London after the latest one there but can you seriously think they can do it in every busy pedestrian area. It's such an easy target. 

No choice. There is no protection against someone that decides to use their car as a weapon. No internet trail, and no warning.

Put up the bollards or more will die.

[balo]

In the future I hope they implant a chip on all refugees and asylum seekers , so we can track them before they decide to go mental. 

[JemJem]

Gosh; I am sure that most sensible people do NOT believe that it was solely due to mental illness.

 

Islamic extremists have only recently started to use this method to kill people; and gees, what a coincidence : this Muslim guy (and I believe that there has been at least one other case of a Muslim guy hitting people with a vehicle and then being declared mentally ill) has used this method, with the aim of killing people.

 

Yes, it is possible that mental illness may have played its part; but the incident's having been totally due to the illness factor and happening without any planning at all ??  Sorry, I am not buying that ! Hey authorities, please don't insult our intelligence and common sense, man.

 

 

[Thechook]

4 hours ago, JemJem said:

Gosh; I am sure that most sensible people do NOT believe that it was solely due to mental illness.

 

Islamic extremists have only recently started to use this method to kill people; and gees, what a coincidence : this Muslim guy (and I believe that there has been at least one other case of a Muslim guy hitting people with a vehicle and then being declared mentally ill) has used this method, with the aim of killing people.

 

Yes, it is possible that mental illness may have played its part; but the incident's having been totally due to the illness factor and happening without any planning at all ??  Sorry, I am not buying that ! Hey authorities, please don't insult our intelligence and common sense, man.

 

 

He has stated that he isn't happy with the treatment of muslims in Australia

[steven100]

always ' mental health issues '   .....  what crap.  

does that void anyone of responsibility for driving a car into people. ?

[simple1]

11 hours ago, RickBradford said:

Ah, yes, the old 'mental health' excuse. Next will be the invocation of the Australian citizenship.

 

I can see the headline now: "SUV driven by mentally ill Australian strikes pedestrians".

 

The prohibition on having a genuine debate about Islamic terrorism in Western countries has one undeniable effect. It emboldens far Right-wing extremists and pushes them towards actions beyond mere rhetoric.

Far right apologist, combined with misinformation. You obviously have no knowledge of the political and Islamist threat conversation in Australia, nor do the people 'liking' your BS

[simple1]

1 hour ago, steven100 said:

always ' mental health issues '   .....  what crap.  

does that void anyone of responsibility for driving a car into people. ?

No. Nor did the prior murderous attack in MLB by a mentally ill Greek Australian, though many falsely claimed, including the usual clique on this forum, he was shouting 'allahu akbar' - LOL

 

Before getting too happy about the possibility of another Islamist ideologically motivated attack to enable leverage for your & others hate speech; wait. Police will be formally interviewing the attacker today, so wait for a day or two as police will announce the outcome of their preliminary investigation and charges laid.

[simple1]

12 hours ago, Thechook said:

The first incident the offender yelled allah Akbar whilst doing burnouts on the intersection of Swanton and Flinders streets before killing people in Burke Street.  Yes this guy today was an Afghan refugee, as was the guy who filmed his actions both muslims.  Well done to Victoria Police and the off duty officer who dragged this piece of excrement from the vehicle and arrested him.  He was injured in the process and taken to hospital.

Incorrect. The guy filming has been identified as an Italian, not sure if Oz citizen and already police have dismissed any involvement with the incident. As mentioned above police are questioning the attacker today to ascertain motivation, Islamist links, if any, etc. As you were / are a police officer I'm surprised you jump to conclusions before investigation completed and charges laid.

[stevenl]

7 hours ago, JemJem said:

Gosh; I am sure that most sensible people do NOT believe that it was solely due to mental illness.

 

Islamic extremists have only recently started to use this method to kill people; and gees, what a coincidence : this Muslim guy (and I believe that there has been at least one other case of a Muslim guy hitting people with a vehicle and then being declared mentally ill) has used this method, with the aim of killing people.

 

Yes, it is possible that mental illness may have played its part; but the incident's having been totally due to the illness factor and happening without any planning at all ??  Sorry, I am not buying that ! Hey authorities, please don't insult our intelligence and common sense, man.

 

 

"but the incident's having been totally due to the illness factor and happening without any planning at all ??  Sorry, I am not buying that ! Hey authorities, please don't insult our intelligence and common sense, man."

 

Where did you see that claim? As usual, reading something and jumping to conclusions.

[DoctorG]

I am wondering what criteria needs to be met before an incident is deemed a terrorist attack?

[simple1]

8 minutes ago, DoctorG said:

I am wondering what criteria needs to be met before an incident is deemed a terrorist attack?

 

A terrorist act is an act, or a threat to act, that meets both these criteria:

• it intends to coerce or influence the public or any government by intimidation to advance a political, religious or ideological cause.

• it causes one or more of the following:
  • death, serious harm or danger to a person
  • serious damage to property
  • a serious risk to the health of safety of the public
  • serious interference with, disruption to, or destruction of critical infrastructure such as a telecommunications or electricity network.

https://www.ag.gov.au/NationalSecurity/Counterterrorismlaw/Pages/Australiascounterterrorismlaws.aspx