Three dead as car ploughs into pedestrians in Australia

Three people have been killed and 20 injured when a car slammed into pedestrians in the centre of Australia's second-largest city Melbourne.

The man deliberately drove his car into people on Friday at the Bourke Street mall, but the incident was not terrorism related, Victoria state police's acting commander Stuart Bateson told reporters.

"I can confirm that we believe this is connected to an earlier stabbing in the southern metro region. We have the offender in custody. There is no further threat to the public at this stage," said Bateson.

Television footage from the scene showed a damaged red car with the front doors open and the windscreen smashed.

"He wasn't stopping and people walking were trying to get away and he just kept going and collected people on his way," one unnamed witness told Melbourne's Herald Sun newspaper.
  aljazeera.com
20/1/17