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The reward is being offered to help solve the suspicious disappearance of Bendigo teenagers Maureen Braddy and Allan Whyte almost 50 years ago. (Video courtesy: ABC News 24)
Trade Minister Steve Ciobo isn't giving up on the trans pacific partnership despite US President Donald Trump planning to withdraw from the global trade deal.
Melburnians continue to pay respect to the victims of those that were tragically killed and injured in the pedestrian attack. (Video courtesy: ABC News 24)
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews says a review of the stateâs bail laws would form part of the investigation after the Bourke Street carnage. (Video courtesy: ABC News 24)
Emily Gargasoulas says she's ashamed to be the mum of the man accused of mowing down pedestrians on Bourke Street, killing five people. (Video courtesy: Seven News Melbourne)
Several people remain in intensive care as sections of Melbourne's CBD are off limits for pedestrians. Vision courtesy ABC News 24.
I'd just had lunch with a friend on Hardware Lane and was on the way back to the office. When I reached the intersection of Bourke Street I felt an electric change in the atmosphere – the city street was eerily quiet, empty of cars and trams, and there was a commotion on the other side of the road.
A man in a blue business shirt was splayed on the ground. There was blood on the footpath. It was brighter than I thought it should be, almost pink.
I had a queasy realisation that something really bad was happening, but my legs kept carrying me over the road.
I looked to my left as I crossed Bourke Street and saw the mall closed off, police cars across the intersection. This was big. Should I run? Help? I had no idea.
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I reached the footpath on the south side, and a group of people crowded around the businessman with umbrellas. I saw another body – an older woman? – lying on the ground further up the footpath, and another body up ahead.
Dozens of people teemed past me in both directions, on phones, looking confused, but the scene was virtually silent. Where were the cops?
Bystanders comforted the injured in Bourke Street. Photo: Justin McManus
"What the hell happened?" I asked the closest person to me, a tradie in high-vis gear.
"Some maniac drove on the footpath and the police shot him!"
"What?"
"I know mate. We're going to need a few beers tonight."
I reeled further up the hill towards Queen Street, past the funereal huddle of umbrellas.
I saw a twisted piece of a car bumper lying on the bitumen. I passed another woman lying on the ground, civilians squatting beside her.
Then I saw a leg, bent out at the most unnatural angle I've ever seen. No leg should ever bend that way. A paramedic was bent over the body, pumping furiously.
I turned down McKillop Street, and dared sneak a glance back. I saw a face, a young face, younger than mine, and a blonde head of hair. A person struggling for life. Sirens bellowed in the distance, headed this way.