MELBOURNE, 20 January (BelTA - Xinhua) - A man is in custody after a car intentionally hit several pedestrians in Melbourne's CBD, killing three people and leaving up to 20 with serious injuries.
A maroon colored Sedan was being pursued by police in Melbourne's CBD when the vehicle entered a pedestrian-only section of the famous Bourke Street shopping mall, driving erratically along the popular strip.
In a statement, Victoria Police confirmed a number of people had been injured in the incident.
"A man has been arrested following an incident in the CBD this afternoon," Victoria Police said.
"At this early stage it is believed a man driving a vehicle has struck a number of pedestrians in the vicinity of Bourke and Queens Streets just before 2 p.m..
"Emergency services are assisting multiple patients but at least one person has been confirmed deceased."
Victoria Police said on Friday afternoon that the incident was not related to terrorism.
Rebecca Russo, a witness of the chase, said she saw three people hit by the car as it sped through the mall.
Ambulance Victoria confirmed that 20 people were being treated as a result of the incident with four of those being children.
Images shot by a helicopter over the CBD showed the wrecked vehicle in the wake of the incident with part of a child's pram on the bonnet with unconfirmed reports that a three year old child in the pram was dragged up to 100 meters by the car.
There were unconfirmed reports on Friday afternoon that shots were fired as the chase unfolded.
One witness said that dozens of police were onto the driver quickly.
Victoria Police said the incident was related to a stabbing in the south-eastern suburb of Windsor at 2 a.m. local time on Friday morning.
The victim of the stabbing remained in hospital in a critical condition on Friday.
Police asked that people stay out of the CBD on Friday as the investigation into the incident continued.
