Truck driver charged after crash hurt five pedestrians as mayor calls for urgent upgrades to ‘horrendous’ intersection

A truck driver who allegedly ploughed into five pedestrians in Melbourne overnight has been charged amid calls for upgrades to a dangerous intersection.

A truck driver has been charged after he allegedly ploughed into five pedestrians, leaving them badly injured on the side of the road.

Four men and a woman aged in their 20 to 30s were hospitalised, with two of the men suffering critical injuries, after the tanker ploughed into the group on the corner of City Road and Power Street about 7pm on Thursday.

The scene was so confronting, paramedics received counselling.

A 64-year-old man from Wyndham Vale was arrested that night and has been questioned by police.

“It is alleged that while performing the left hand turn, the truck cut the intersection corner and mounted the footpath, taking out the traffic light which fell to the ground,” Victoria Police said in a statement.

The man has been charged with two counts of dangerous driving causing serious injury and will front Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Saturday.

According to his employer K&S, the driver maintains he was unaware of the incident.

The Lord Mayor of Melbourne, Sally Capp, called for urgent upgrades to the intersection - one of the city’s busiest thoroughfares - following the horror crash.

Melbourne Lord Mayor Sally Capp has called for urgent upgrades to the busy intersection. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

Nearby residents have called the intersection “an accident waiting to happen”.

Ms Capp described the scene as “horrendous” in a post on Twitter on Friday.

“Our thoughts are with the people injured and their families and we hope they make a full recovery,” she wrote.

In the post, Ms Capp called for major, urgent improvements to the intersection.

“We need to work together to fix this intersection and make it safer for Southbank residents and workers,” she said.

Investigators have been told a truck left the road near the intersection of City Road and Power Street and hit a traffic light and a group of pedestrians. Picture: Seven News

“I’ve contacted Roads Minister Ben Carroll and local MP Martin Foley to discuss urgent safety measures that can be delivered swiftly.”

Investigators said the tanker did not stop at the crash scene but was later tracked to Truganina.

Ambulance Victoria chief executive Tony Walker said paramedics had received peer support following the crash.

Ambulance Victoria chief executive Tony Walker said paramedics were being counselled over the incident. Picture: NCA NewsWire/David Crosling

“It was incredibly confronting to have young people injured in a crash like that,” Mr Walker said on Friday.

Victorian Health Minister Martin Foley said he had been in talks with Ms Capp about upgrading the intersection.

“We’ve been in discussions about what does this tell us about City Road and Power Street, where we see a large number of vehicles coming on and off the freeway through what’s a very densely populated (area), and can things be done better.

“I’ve already been in contact with our friends from public transport and roads as to what can be done to make sure that that kind of tragic circumstances doesn’t happen again.

“I want to offer my deep sympathies and support to those young people who were so terribly injured last night and wish them a speedy recovery.”