Melbourne is still trying to come to terms with the horrific car rampage which tragically killed six people, including two children, almost a year ago.
Dimitrious Gargasoulas is accused of driving through Bourke Street, deliberately mowing down pedestrians before police shot and wounded him on January 20.
During the rampage, a child was thrown from a pram which was dragged 100 metres down the street after getting stuck on the bonnet of the maroon Commodore.
The baby’s mother watched in horror – as people ran for their lives in the ensuing chaos – and she was heard desperately begging: ‘Where is my baby?’
Just shy of 12 months later, the horrific memories of that sunny summer day in the heart of Melbourne came flooding back.
Seven people, including a toddler, have been rushed to hospital and several others are injured after a car once again ploughed into pedestrians on Thursday afternoon.
Members of the public stand behind police tape after Australian police said on Thursday they have arrested the driver of a vehicle that ploughed into pedestrians in the heart of Melbourne
More than a dozen pedestrians, including a toddler, have been injured after a car ploughed into rush hour crowds in Melbourne on Thursday
Chaotic scenes unfolded as the white SUV crashed into the group of panicked commuters and shoppers at the corner of Melbourne’s Elizabeth Street and Flinders Street at 4.41pm on Thursday
The terrifying scenes unfolded near Flinders Street Station – just a few hundred metres from January’s tragedy.
A Flinders St shopkeeper described the tragedy as ‘more dramatic’ than the Bourke Street rampage.
He told The Australian there were ‘bodies everywhere’ as onlookers desperately tried to help the injured.
‘Just holding them and comforting them, not moving them but keeping them comfortable,’ he said.
The driver has been arrested along with a second man and both are in custody, police say.
A pre-school aged child suffered a head injury and was rushed to the Royal Children’s Hospital in a serious condition, Ambulance Victoria said.
Dimitrious Gargasoulas is accused of driving through Bourke Street, deliberately mowing down pedestrians before police shot and wounded him on January 20
Gargasoulas is alleged to have killed six people during the horrific Bourke Street scenes earlier this year
Aerial footage of the scene shows a white Suzuki SUV crashed into a tram stop.
The vehicle ran a red light just after 4.30pm on Thursday, witnesses have told radio station 3AW.
One bystander said the Suzuki was travelling west along Flinders Street at up to 100km/h.
‘The intersection was full of pedestrians and he just ploughed through,’ he told ABC TV.
Police and emergency personnel work at the scene of where a car ran over pedestrians in Flinders Street
A wrecked car is seen at the scene of an incident involving a vehicle on Flinders Street on Thursday
‘The only thing that slowed him down was him hitting pedestrians.
‘There was no breaking, there was no slowing down. Whether it was targeted or whether he had a heart attack, or was drunk, I don’t know.’
Police confirmed a number of people are being treated for a range of injuries.
Thursday’s incident on Flinders Street between Elizabeth and Swanston streets has brought parts of the city to a standstill four days out from Christmas.
‘Police have saturated the CBD area in the vicinity of Flinders, Elizabeth and Swanston streets to ensure community safety,’ police said in a statement.