Three dead in Melbourne car rampage

Three people died and 20 were injured after a car drove into a crowd of shoppers in Melbourne, Australia.

Authorities in the state of Victoria confirmed one of the victims was a young child, but have not yet released names.

"Police have arrested the driver, and say it was a deliberate act, but not linked to terrorism in any way," The Guardian says. Officers reportedly shot and wounded the man before his arrest.

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The suspect, a 26-year-old whose identification is not yet known, had allegedly taken a woman hostage after stabbing his brother, officials said. The woman reportedly managed to escape before the car crashed into the shoppers.

Police called off the chase before it reached the city centre due to safety concerns.

Video footage shows the car being driven in circles outside Flinders Street station in the minutes leading up to the incident, with bystanders running to get out of its path.

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The driver then made his way to Bourke Street Mall, a pedestrianised area, before driving "at speed" into the crowds.

"There was no hesitation when he got to the crowd, he just mowed them down," witness Sharn Baylis told Fairfax Media. "He was going around 60km/h [37mph] but it seemed faster. People were literally just flying like skittles, bouncing off the bonnet and smashing into the shops."

Former Victoria police commissioner Christine Nixon, who was at the mall, told ABC Radio the car was "probably about a metre from me" before she heard two gunshots.

The driver's condition was not released, but officials said police had shot him in the arm. No information about his brother's condition was released.