An Irish person has been injured in Melbourne after a car drove into crowds during rush hour.
The Irish Department of Foreign Affairs has confirmed it is providing consular assistance but no name has yet been released. It is believed that the Irish person involved was a 25-year-old woman.
Nineteen people were hurt in what local law enforcement say was "deliberate act." The 32-year-old driver - an Australian citizen, originally from Afghanistan - was arrested by an off-duty police officer and has been remanded in custody.
A second man was later arrested but it’s understood he was not involved in the attack itself.
Police say a car which crashed into pedestrians in Melbourne was a 'deliberate act' pic.twitter.com/4GeImpr8gk
— Sky News (@SkyNews) December 21, 2017
Australia’s Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, said, "He has said, in a number of what the police are describing as utterings, that he attributed his actions to perceived mistreatment of Muslims.
"But at this stage, because investigations are continuing, apart from that statement, there are no known links to any political issues, or any links to extremist groups, and I am advised at the moment that no terrorism link has been identified."
Two men being detained over pedestrian attack in Melbourne @7NewsSydney @Y7News pic.twitter.com/SZXfywf725
— Jason Morrison (@JasonMorrisonAU) December 21, 2017
Witnesses described the white Suzuki SUV hurtling at 40mph towards busy rush hour crowds on the intersection of two streets.
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"We could hear this noise. As we looked left, we saw this white car, it just mowed everybody down," one local worker told radio station 3AW. "People are flying everywhere. We heard thump, thump. People are running everywhere."
Another told the station her first concern was for her children, "I didn't want the kids to see anything. We just ran. I wanted to get the girls out of there so we ran into the closest building.”
The public have been asked to avoid the crime scene until further notice and anyone with footage or photos of the incident have been asked to upload it for Victoria Police here: http://australiauploadserviceweb.cloudapp.net/
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