Just a matter of hours after a car "deliberately" hit pedestrians on a busy street in central Melbourne, a gas bottle has exploded at a shopping mall just outside the city.
Firefighting services have confirmed that it responded to reports of an
explosion in the Bayside Shopping Centre at Frankston. The incident took place at the Bob Jane T Marts tyre workshop just after 7 pm, and resulted in the entire mall being evacuated.
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Witness reports from the scene describe visible flames and a series of loud bangs, as if something was exploding.
"Fire in what looked like the delivery entrance at Frankston mall," said one person on Twitter. "Lots of massive booms, something obviously flammable going up."
Another person on the social media platform gave a more detailed account of the incident:
"According to multiple callers calling
#3aw, there have been explosions at
#Frankston shopping centre, near railway, balls of flames sighted inside and outside the shopping centre reaching high far above it. Happened around 7:10PM AEDT."
The County Fire Authority were quick to report the matter on social media, giving details of the incident and how they were dealing with it. The post stated that "A number of forklift gas cylinders" were involved in the explosion, and, although there was "currently no threat to the community", individuals close to the area should continue to "stay informed and monitor conditions".
Although the incident was quickly revealed to be accidental and non-threatening, the hysteria of the earlier attack in the city caused many to believe that a bomb had exploded.
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Two people have now been arrested in connection to the earlier incident, in which at least 14 people - including a young child - have been injured. While the explosion at the mall is not being treated as a police matter, the scene which took place in a busy street full of Christmas shoppers has been confirmed as a crime scene.
A witness to the attack, which took place on Finders Street, reported seeing people get thrown into the air by a white SUV. "It just plowed into the crowds," he said. "We heard this noise and we looked up then we just heard bang, bang, bang and people flying everywhere. We had a lot of customers in our shop and they were traumatized."
Australia's Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, has already acknowledged the "shocking incident" on Twitter, and stated that "thoughts & prayers are with the victims & the emergency & health workers who are treating them".
At present, the scene is not being treated as a terrorist attack, as at least one of the suspects has a known history of drug addiction and mental health problems. However, it is being considered a deliberate act, as one of the perpetrators was found to have a bag containing knives.
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There have been no reported fatalities as a result of the crash, and no injuries caused by the later explosion at the mall. While the scene on Finders Street will likely be subject to a long investigation, the Bayside Shopping Center has actually already been re-opened.
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Pedestrians are especially vulnerable to
incidents like these at this time of year, as public areas are especially crowded in the days and weeks leading up to Christmas. Thankfully, as we have seen from the response to both the explosion and the car crash, law enforcement and emergency services are prepared for a quick response.
