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Restaurant workers have described their horror at finding a man unresponsive and bloodied after a car crashed into a medical centre in Melbourne’s north, in an incident that also injured a patient.
Emergency services were called to the intersection of Keilor and Hoffmans roads in Niddrie after reports of a silver Alfa Romeo sedan hitting a pedestrian on the footpath before crashing into the Essendon Health Medical Centre about 9.20am on Monday.
Police officers outside the Niddrie medical centre after Monday’s crash.Credit: Eddie Jim
The car crashed into a doctor’s consulting room, hitting a Roxburgh Park woman aged in her 50s. She was flown to the Royal Melbourne Hospital with serious injuries.
The woman was in a stable condition on Monday night. The car narrowly missed the doctor she had been seeing.
The pedestrian, whom police described as a middle-aged man, died at the scene. He is yet to be formally identified.
CCTV footage from a nearby 7-Eleven store showed the car driving through the intersection and into the medical centre, prompting shocked walkers to stop in their path.
Detective Inspector Craig McEvoy, of the major collision investigation unit, said the car was driving north along Hoffmans Road when it went through the intersection at Keilor Road and straight into the medical centre.
The car came to rest 30 metres inside the centre, missing other patients and staff, he said.
The driver, a 63-year-old Maribyrnong man, was uninjured but taken to hospital for observation under police guard. He gave a “very brief version [of what happened] on scene to some witnesses” immediately after the accident, police said.
The man was interviewed by police on Monday and has been released pending further inquiries.
The Alfa Romeo that crashed through Essendon Health Medical Centre on Monday morning.Credit: Cassandra Morgan
Tanvir, a chef at Sumac Lebanese Cuisine, four doors down from the medical centre, spoke through tears after he ran out of the restaurant to see the man unresponsive, lying on the ground.
Police told restaurant staff they did not have to close up early, but by midday, the restaurant was dark – tables and chairs stacked, its floors freshly mopped – as workers were too upset to carry on with their day.
The man struck by the car was dead at the scene, Tanvir said.
“I saw this experience for the first time in my life. So I am really upset because I can’t even focus on my work. Probably that’s why I have to leave earlier today,” said the chef, who asked for his surname not to be published.
Sam and Tanvir, who work at Sumac Lebanese Cuisine, four doors down from the scene of the crash.Credit: Eddie Jim
Sumac’s manager, Sam, who also asked for her name not to be published, said bystanders rushed to help remove the man’s shirt as he lay on the ground, so he could be treated.
They said paramedics arrived up to 15 minutes after the crash.
“The people around certainly did help,” Sam said. “They helped the injured … everyone was around. Everyone came on.”
In a video The Age has decided not to publish, the man who died is lying bloodied on the ground, surrounded by the broken glass of the medical centre’s smashed wall.
McEvoy said it was fortunate that there weren’t more injuries following the incident.
“There’s reception staff, there’s back of house staff. So it’s very, very fortunate that there weren’t more injuries,” he said.
Staff at a radiology clinic next door said they heard a bang when the car hit the medical centre. All businesses near the medical centre are now inaccessible behind police tape.
The area surrounding the medical centre was chaotic on Monday as dozens of onlookers gathered on nearby footpaths.
“It’s giving me goosebumps. It’s a pretty hectic intersection because there’s cars coming through … and the trams coming through, it’s congested,” local Bianca Christou said through tears.
“But it’s the time of day when everyone is out and having a little shop.”
An SES tent was erected outside the centre, while the intersection metres away was taped off. A smashed glass wall of the centre was visible through police tape.
Police are investigating the cause of the crash.Credit: Eddie Jim
Several trams nearby were at a standstill, surrounded by fire trucks and at least seven police vehicles. Officers were talking to concerned members of the public as reporters started to arrive.
Emergency services extracted the Alfa Romeo from the medical centre on Monday afternoon, and it was towed away about 3.30pm. The police investigation continues.
Anyone who witnessed the crash or has CCTV, dashcam or other footage or information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or anonymously at www.crimestoppersvic.com.au.
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