Bloodied victims lie sprayed across the pavement after ‘a drink driver deliberately smashed into five Romanian car wash workers’ leaving a man, 25, fighting for his life

By Richard Spillett, Crime Correspondent For Mailonline Ten:36 BST twenty six Feb 2017, updated 12:27 BST twenty seven Feb two thousand seventeen

• Car said to have left the road around 8:20am and crashed into pedestrians
• Five people have been taken to hospital, one is still in a critical condition
• A man has been arrested on suspicion of dangerous driving and drink driving
• He was detained by an off-duty police officer before being arrested over crash
• Witnesses said the driver looked tipsy and his deeds appeared deliberate
• WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT

Shocking footage has emerged of the moments after a Mercedes ploughed into five people, believed to be Romanian car wash workers, in a south London street.

The car left the road near Catford Bus Garage in Bellingham at 8:20am this morning and crashed into a group of people at a car wash. Witnesses said the driver’s deeds appeared to be deliberate.

Onlookers said a blood-covered man chased the driver down the street shouting ‘f*** you’ and ‘why have you done this?’ before police arrived.

One of the victims, a 25-year-old man, remains in a critical condition while two others, a 35-year-old woman and a 25-year-old man, are described as ‘serious but stable’.

A movie of the aftermath of the incident shows members of the public rushing to help those mown down by the car.

The driver was detained by an off-duty police officer and was arrested on suspicion of causing serious injury by dangerous driving and drink driving.

Two other fellows who were hit, aged thirty six and 46, received injuries described as ‘not life-threatening’ and are in a stable condition.

The driver was himself taken to a south London hospital with a head injury.

Eyewitness Colin Liddell, 29, said: ‘I witnessed the car turn around at the junction and then he put his accelerator to the floor and hit the bollard and five people before he hit the wall.

‘He intended to hit them, he was providing it large after he got out the car. He was bleeding on his head and had run away, he ran round the corner before the police arrested him.’

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The car’s bonnet and boot were popped open by the influence, its airbags all deployed, while debris was splashed across the pavement.

Minasu Towolawi, 26, added: ‘My brother and I were coming out of the house going to church and we heard screams.

‘I went to look and I eyed them there, there were two dudes on the floor not moving at all and others were around the woman.

‘There was one fellow with blood on his head and he was pursuing a well dressed black boy in his 30s down the road with another dude.

‘The dude was dressed in a leather jacket, all in black. The one with blood on his face was shouting ‘f*** you’.

Ms Towolawi added: ‘The man, I think he may have been the driver, kept coming back and then the police chased him, he looked tipsy.

‘They were blubbering and wailing and attempting to get their friends to wake up, they seemed truly anguished.

‘They were bleeding on their goes, the lady had blood all over her and the others were bleeding too.

‘They had sat the last up and they were jiggling her and telling her name over and over again.

‘We think they are Romanians, they live in the car wash, you see them all the time going into the Costcutter in their night gowns.’

She added: ‘I think the driver hit them on purpose, the Romanians are always around there, the car wash was running when it happened.’

A kebab shop worker who asked not to be named witnessed two car wash workers pursuing a suspect down the street after the crash.

He said: ‘I don’t them that well, from what I’ve heard it was a customer who had a disagreement with the car wash guys.’

Another witness, who gave his name only as Dave, said: ‘I heard it was over an argument, he went back for vengeance.’

The Met Police have said there is no suggestion the incident is linked to terrorism.

A London Ambulance Service spokesperson said: ‘We were called at 8.18am today to reports of a road traffic collision on Bromley Road, Catford.

‘We sent four ambulance crews, an air ambulance team, a prompt responder in a car, an advanced paramedic and an incident response officer to the scene, with the very first of our medics arriving in under seven minutes.

‘We treated five patients for a range of head, chest and gam injuries at the scene and took all five to hospital as a priority.’

A Scotland Yard spokesman said: ‘Police were called at approximately 08:20hrs on Sunday, twenty six February to reports of a Mercedes in collision with a wall and pedestrians on Bromley Road in Bellingham.

‘Officers, the London Ambulance Service and London’s Air Ambulance attended.

‘Five people – four dudes and a woman, believed to be aged inbetween twenty five and forty six years – were treated at the scene before being taken to south and east London hospitals.’

The spokesman added: ‘One of the victims, a 25-year-old man remains in a critical condition.

‘Two of the pedestrians – a 35-year-old woman and a 25-year-old man are now in what is described as a serious but stable condition.

‘Two studs, aged thirty six and 46sustained minor injuries which are not described as life-threatening.

‘The driver of the car was detained at the scene by an off-duty police officer before being arrested on suspicion of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

‘He was also arrested on suspicion of drink drive before being taken to a south London hospital with a head injury.’

‘Detectives from the Met’s Roads and Transport Policing Guideline are investigating. Road closures remain in place.’

Anyone who witnessed the collision is asked to contact the Serious Collision Investigation Unit’s witness appeal line on twenty 8285 one thousand five hundred seventy four or via 101.

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