Three people still critical, including two South Koreans, as alleged driver of car that ploughed into pedestrians in Melbourne is released from hospital

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Three people, including two South Korean nationals, remain in a critical condition in hospital after a car ploughed into pedestrians on Flinders Street in Melbourne on Thursday.



The white SUV drove on to tram tracks and then into an intersection crowded with pedestrians about 4.45pm, injuring 18 people before hitting the concrete base of a tram stop.

The alleged driver of the car was arrested at the scene by an off-duty police officer. He was taken to Melbourne West police station on Saturday morning where will he will be formally interviewed by detectives.

The off-duty police officer underwent surgery on Friday and is one of 12 people remaining in hospital.

Turnbull calls Melbourne crash a 'despicable and cowardly act' Read more

Nine of those injured were foreign nationals, including two South Korean men, aged 67 and 61, who were both critically injured. The third critically injured man is an 83-year-old from the Melbourne suburb of Northcote.

A four-year-old boy who reportedly received head injuries is also a South Korean national. He remains in hospital in a stable condition.

A 40-year-old Venezuelan man, 25-year-old Irish woman, 45-year-old Indian man, and 24-year-old Chinese man are among those still in hospital, along with four people from Melbourne.

Police have said the alleged driver was a former Afghan refugee who arrived in Australia in 2004. He is an Australian citizen and has lived in Melbourne for a number of years, had a history of drug abuse and mental illness and was known to police from a minor assault charge in 2010. He was on a mental health plan.

Police raided his home and those of a number of family members. Victorian police minister Lisa Neville told ABC radio that police would assess the man’s fitness to undertake an interview before conducting a formal interview.

Overnight the man told police he was upset about the mistreatment of Muslims and also spoke of dreams and voices, acting police commander Shane Patton said.

Patton has repeatedly said police do not have any intelligence or evidence connecting the man to terrorism or suggesting that he may have been radicalised.

“We have nothing to indicate this was a planned attack at this time,” he told reporters. “The fact that someone simply says this is because of Muslim mistreatment around the world … given the whole mental health background and drug use … there is not sufficient evidence here to say this was a terrorist event.”

A second man arrested after police saw him filming the incident on his mobile phone and searched his bag, which allegedly contained knives, has been released from custody and will be charged via summons with possessing cannabis and possessing a controlled weapon, police said.

He was not involved or connected with the original incident and his offences were not connected, police say.

Prime minister Malcolm Turnbull said it was not appropriate to speculate on the man’s motives, but said “whatever the motivation, this was a despicable and cowardly act”.

The Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, called the incident “an act of evil, and an act of cowardice”.

Play Video 1:52 An 'evil act': Victorian premier on Melbourne crash – video

Authorities have said it was an isolated incident and did not increase the risk for other public events around Melbourne over the Christmas period, including the Boxing Day Test.

There is an increased police presence in the city, with a mobile police command bus stationed at the scene of the incident on the corner of Flinders and Elizabeth Streets, opposite Flinders Street Station. The area remains thronged with people.

Police cars were reported driving along tram tracks in Bourke Street Mall, which was the site of another, unconnected, incident where a lone driver mowed down pedestrians and killed six people on 20 January. That driver has pleaded not guilty to murder and is awaiting trial.

Both Turnbull and Andrews said authorities were trying to figure out a way to address the security risk posed by tram tracks without disrupting what is an essential characteristic of the city.

“Melbourne has … big wide streets, wide footpaths, and of course, it has trams, and the tramways enable a driver, as this driver did, to pull out of stopped traffic and get into the tramway,” Turnbull told reporters in Sydney.

“I think it is vital that wherever we can we build protections into the design … [but] you cannot protect every crowded place from every vehicle.”

After the Bourke Street tragedy the Andrews government contracted an international security engineering firm to decrease the risk of incidents involving a vehicle being driven into a crowd, resulting in temporary concrete bollards that Melburnians quickly decorated.

Following the crash, crowds at Melbourne’s carols by candlelight and Boxing Day Test will see a “highly-visible” police presence.

The police presence will continue at popular spots as Federation Square and Melbourne Central, as well as transport hubs and the MCG.



“We’re simply there to make sure everyone is safe and relaxed,” said Assistant Commissioner Stephen Leane, saying it would be noticeable to locals and visitors.

• This story was amended on 27 December 2017 to comply with a suppression order.