Sydney: Car driven into Muslim clothing shop and at least 12 injured

No initial indication crash was terror-related, police say

At least 12 people have been injured after a car crashed into a Muslim clothing shop in Sydney on Thursday afternoon.

Local emergency services said 11 pedestrians and the male driver had been treated at the scene of Hijab House in Greenacre, on the corner of Waterloo and Boronia roads.

The incident took place shortly before 3.15pm. Footage circulating online shows an SUV at a set of traffic lights appearing to ram into the back of a car, before accelerating across an intersection into the store.

New South Wales Police said in a statement: “A Mitsubishi SUV crashed into a vehicle stopped at the traffic lights before continuing into a nearby shop.

“The male driver and 11 pedestrians have been injured. They are currently being treated at the scene; however, their injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.”

There was no initial indication the crash was terror-related, police added, while NSW ambulance service said those injured in the store were mostly women, aged between 18 and 30.

Fire and Rescue NSW said its force had responded to the incident and reported that a person had been “trapped inside the car”.

NSW deputy commissioner Peter Thurtell said a 51-year-old man had been arrested at the scene and taken to hospital. No charges have yet been made.

Officers from Bankstown Police Area Command have begun conducting inquiries into the incident, NSW Police said.

A number of victims were carried out of the store on a stretcher before being treated by teams of paramedics on the street.

“I saw a lot of smoke and heard a beeping horn”, John Makhlouf, who owns a nearby petrol station, told ABC News. “One car got pushed out of the way and the other car went straight into the shop and crashed and you could hear the horn constantly beeping.

“It’s very lucky there was no one standing on the corner or crossing at the lights because they would have been hit.”

Drivers were advised to avoid the area in the wake of the crash - though the rescue operation has since come to an end.