At least four dead, including one of the two perpetrators, according to Australian media
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Six people have been killed in a knife attack at a shopping center in Sydney, Australia.
Several people were injured in the attack, eight of whom, including a nine-month-old baby, were taken to hospital, emergency services said.
The alleged perpetrator, who was killed by police fire, is also dead. He had previously collided with nine people at the busy Westfield Bondi Junction shopping centre.
“This individual is now deceased. I am informed that there are five deaths as a result of the actions of this offender,” New South Wales State Police Deputy Superintendent Anthony Cook told a news conference.
The motive for the attack has not yet been clarified, but Cook said the “terrorism” version could not be ruled out at this time.
“I still don’t know who (the perpetrator, s.b.) is. You will understand that this is a very complicated case. The investigations are very recent and we are still trying to identify the culprit,” he added. The perpetrator acted alone and the danger has passed, the authorities clarified.
The tragedy occurred at the large Westfield Bondi Junction mall, which was packed with customers as it was Saturday afternoon local time.
The police, who helped to evacuate the shopping center, are asking citizens to avoid the area.
Sydney shopping mall carnage: ‘Shooting and screaming’
Earlier, a young witness, who locked herself inside a store to escape, said she heard gunshots and screams.
Other eyewitnesses described scenes of panic, with shop customers running for cover and police trying to secure the area.
Footage from security cameras released to local media shows a man running through the mall, holding a large knife, and people lying on the ground injured.
Several social media posts showed crowds of people leaving the mall as police patrol cars and emergency services vehicles arrived in the area.
“The first thoughts of all Australians are with those affected and their loved ones,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese wrote on social media X.
“For all of us tonight, the horrific scenes at Bondi Junction (the name of the mall) are beyond words and understanding,” he said. do their shopping”,
Australia has one of the strictest gun and knife laws. Attacks like today’s are extremely rare in the country. In November 2018 a man armed with a knife killed one person and injured two others on a Melbourne street before being shot dead by police. The Islamic State organization claimed responsibility for this crime.