
More than a dozen pedestrians, including a toddler, have been injured with four fighting for life in hospital after a car 'deliberately' ploughed into rush hour crowds in the heart of Melbourne.

A white Suzuki SUV with p-plates, driven by 32-year-old man of Afghan descent, who The Herald Sun have identified as Saeed Noori, crashed into a large group of commuters and shoppers at the corner of Melbourne's busy Elizabeth Street and Flinders Street at 4.41pm on Thursday.

The 32-year-old lone wolf driver was known to police and was arrested at the scene.

The driver, who is an Australian citizen, is under police guard at hospital with shoulder and hand injuries.

Victoria Police said the driver has a history of drug use, criminal history with a minor assault in 2010 and is on a mental health plan.

More than a dozen pedestrians, including a toddler, have been injured after a car ploughed into rush hour crowds (pictured)

Paramedics at the scene were holding up tarps around the injured (pictured) who lay on the tram tracks of the busy street

Chaotic scenes unfolded during peak-hour as the white SUV crashed into the group of panicked pedestrians (pictured)

Footage shows one of the men in a white shirt with a beard (pictured) being pulled to the gutter away from the vehicle

19 people were injured (one pictured) and taken to hospitals across Melbourne and four of them are in critical conditions

Premier of Victoria Daniel Andrews said Thursday night the 'horrific act' was targeted against 'innocent bystanders' (pictured)

Victoria Police will remain at the scene through the night until at least Friday morning as they investigate (pictured)

Usually a busy strip in the heart of the city, Flinders Street has become a crime scene (pictured) after the car ploughed crowds

A second 24-year-old man, who had a bag of three knives, was arrested but police believe he had no link to the incident.

'Clarity on the second offender that is in custody, it has not yet been determined whether he was involved, and it is quite probable he was not,' Acting Commissioner Shane Patton said.

The 24-year-old man was seen filming the rampage.

The crash injured 19 people, including the driver and an off duty police officer and four people are in a critical condition while a four-year-old boy was left with serious head injuries but is in a stable condition.

A 25-year-old man, 40-year-old man, 43-year-old man, 45-year-old man, 83-year-old man, two 25-year-old women, 30-year-old woman, 35-year-old woman, 47-year-old woman and a 58-year-old woman were some of the victims injured in the rampage, according to police.

Another three men and two women were injured but their ages are unknown.

Victoria Police believe the incident has no link to terror-related attacks.

'We do not have any evidence to a connection with terrorism,' Acting Commissioner Patton said.

'At this stage we believe it is a deliberate act, however we do not know the motivation.'

Premier of Victoria Daniel Andrews said Thursday night the 'horrific act' was targeted against 'innocent bystanders'.

'What occurred on Flinders Street this afternoon was an act of evil and an act of cowardice,' Mr Andrews said.

'At a time of the year when so many families are celebrating the end of they year, doing their Christmas shopping ... we have seen a horrific act.'

Two men were arrested at the scene after the white SUV (pictured) crashed into a bollard at Flinders Street Station

Footage shows one of the men in a white shirt with a beard being pulled to the gutter away from the vehicle.

An eye-witness described seeing the car hurtling towards the crowd.

She told radio station 3AW: 'It just mowed everybody down, people were flying everywhere.

'We heard thump, thump. People are running everywhere.'

Another witness, Jim, told ABC News the driver ploughed through the intersection full of people at speeds up to 100km/h.

'The only thing that slowed him down was him hitting pedestrians,' Jim said.

'There was no braking, there was no slowing down.'

Dramatic footage shows a number of injured pedestrians being treated by passers-by as they wait for paramedics.

Victoria Police dragged the man in a white shirt (pictured) from the white Suzuki to the gutter shortly after the incident

Footage shows the damaged car surrounded by dozens of injured pedestrians while police arrest one man (pictured)

A man was seen talking to police near the scene soon after the car crashed into the tram stop bollard

Dozens of people were hit by the car with witnesses saying they saw the car doing burnouts before the incident

A witness told Nine News they thought the car was travelling at about 60km/h as it drove into busy crowds (pictured)

The white Suzuki SUV (pictured) was forced to stop its rampage when it crashed into a bollard near Flinders Street Station

A car crashed into the crowds at Melbourne 's Flinders Street and Elizabeth Street (pictured) causing dramatic scenes

Ambulance Victoria said paramedics were called to the scene (pictured) at 4.41pm Thursday and several are critical

Vince Harris, the manager of the Freechoice tobacconist at Flinders Street Station, was nearby in the immediate aftermath of the crash.

He was on the scene from about two minutes after the car collided and could see the cracked windscreen and Good Samaritans trying to save injured pedestrians.

'A few ladies were screaming but it was calm - there were no sirens, nothing,' Mr Harris said.

'I was here when the other one (the Bourke Street tragedy) happened …. you get desensitised.'

Witness Lachlan Vella told Fairfax Media he saw a man dressed in a suit with his 'head busted open' as he was lying on the ground.

Mr Vella said another man 'had blood around his head and was snoring, like atonal breathing,' as a woman came in and out of consciousness.

Vince Harris, the manager of the Freechoice tobacconist at Flinders Street Station, was near the crash aftermath (pictured)

The heart of Melbourne's CBD is in lock down after the car ploughed down a number of shoppers and commuters (pictured)

19 people were taken to hospital including a pre-school aged child with serious head injuries who is now in stable condition

'At this stage we believe it is a deliberate act, however we do not know the motivation,' Commander Russell Barrett (pictured) said

Police locked down vast areas of the city taking in Flinders Street, Flinders Lane and Elizabeth Street (pictured)

One witness's husband told Daily Mail Australia his wife was taken to Melbourne West with other onlookers to be interviewed

A number of injured were taken to the The Alfred Hospital, Royal Melbourne Hospital, St Vincent's Hospital and Royal Children's Hospital including the driver of the car (pictured) and a police officer

One witness's husband told Daily Mail Australia his wife had been taken to Melbourne West with other onlookers to be interviewed.

Police have locked down vast areas of the city taking in Flinders Street, Flinders Lane and Elizabeth Street.

A child at pre-school suffered head injuries and was taken to the Royal Children's Hospital in a serious condition.

Three people were taken to The Alfred Hospital and three people were taken to the Royal Melbourne Hospital but the extent of the injuries are unknown.

Eye-witnesses told 9 News the saw the white SUV being driven at about 60km/h before it smashed into dozens of pedestrians.

Another witness told 3AW there were about 'five to seven people laying on the ground'.

More could have been injured if not for the vehicle crashing into a bollard at the tram stop out the front of Flinders Street Station.

Three people were taken to The Alfred Hospital and three people were taken to the Royal Melbourne Hospital

Police said the driver of the car and a second man were arrested after what they believe was a 'deliberate' attack in the CBD

A child at pre-school suffered serious head injuries and was taken to Royal Children's Hospital (white SUV pictured)

More could have been injured if the white Suzuki did not crash into a bollard after about '15 seconds' of trauma

Lachlan Read, 20, told The Herald Sun the whole rampage lasted about 15 seconds.

'He has gone straight through the red light at pace and it was bang, bang, bang. It was just one after the other,' Mr Read said.

'There were bodies on the ground and people running up to them - it was mayhem.'

A childcare centre and other buildings along Flinders Street were evacuated.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull wrote on Twitter saying the federal and state security agencies would work together to investigate the 'shocking incident'.

'Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and the emergency and health workers who are treating them,' Mr Turnbull wrote.

The carnage comes almost a year after six people were killed and 30 injured when a car ploughed through the Bourke Street Mall.

The driver, Dimitrious Gargasoulas, was charged with six counts of murder after he allegedly used a maroon Holden Commodore sedan to run down shoppers during the lunch break.

A child and two adults were amoung those who died following the attack as well as a three-month-old baby boy.

Subsequently, concrete bollards were installed around Melbourne CBD at popular locations to prevent future vehicle attacks.

A childcare centre and other buildings along Flinders Street were evacuated shortly after the incident Thursday

A witness told Melbourne's 3AW radio station there were about 'five to seven people laying on the ground' (pictured)

'People were flying everywhere ... people running everywhere' a witness told the 3AW radio station on Thursday (pictured)