MELBOURNE • A man who mowed down 18 pedestrians in Melbourne, half of them foreigners, said he carried out the attack to avenge "mistreatment of Muslims", Australia has said, while stressing it had still found no link to any terrorist group.
The number of people injured was revised down from 19 based on a police statement yesterday.
Three people remained critically ill in hospital after the Australian-Afghan driver ploughed through a busy downtown intersection in his car on Thursday in what the authorities said was a "deliberate act".
The 32-year-old, who came to Australia as a refugee, has a history of drug abuse and mental problems. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has reiterated that officials had established no terrorism link "at this stage".
"To be attacked like this, in the middle of one of our great cities, is a shocking event, a shocking crime," Mr Turnbull said yesterday. "He has said, in a number of what the police are describing as utterings, that he attributed his actions to perceived mistreatment of Muslims".
"But at this stage, because investigations are continuing, apart from that statement, there are no known links to any political issues, or any links to extremist groups, and I am advised at the moment that no terrorism link has been identified."
But he added that "a mass of material" was being investigated and "nothing should be ruled out".
The man, who was wrestled from the car by an off-duty police officer, was due to undergo a psychiatric assessment later yesterday, and is yet to be formally interviewed.
He was widely identified in the Australian media as Saeed Noori.
In his brief discussions with police from the hospital, Noori spoke about dreams and hearing voices, said Acting Chief Commissioner of the Victoria Police Shane Patton.
Nine foreign nationals were among those hurt, including three South Koreans. Two of them - men aged in their 60s - are among the critically hurt.
Police said the other overseas victims came from China, Italy, India, Venezuela, Ireland and New Zealand, with the city full of tourists for the festive season.
Mr Turnbull assured Australians that Thursday's carnage was an isolated incident and "we should continue to go about our daily lives in the way we always do".
"We should always be cautious, but we're not going to be cowed or intimidated by cowardly acts of individuals who seek to do us harm in public spaces, like this," he said.
Canberra has become increasingly worried about homegrown extremism and officials say they have prevented 13 terror attacks on home soil in the past few years.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, WASHINGTON POST
