Amateur footage of a car explosion in Dallas
A MAN screamed “somebody has bombed me!” after he was blown away from his car as it exploded in his driveway.
The victim, known as “Mo”, was set on fire as a result of the blast and was found rolling around in his front yard desperately trying to smother the flames — his legs a bloody mess from the shrapnel.
The blast severely damaged the Ford Mondeo at his Kiewa Crescent home in Dallas in Melbourne’s north, just after 9am on Thursday.
Some neighbours in the Dallas street packed their bags and left shortly before noon today.
Family and friends of the victim made several trips to the property throughout the morning.
The 29-year-old victim remains at the Royal Melbourne Hospital in a serious condition.
Police are still investigating the cause of the blast that occurred about 9am yesterday.
Senior firefighters said they had no doubt a bomb was used.
Footage taken by a neighbour shows the car in flames. Source: Supplied
A member from the bomb squad with a robot in Kiewa Crescent. Picture: Nicole Garmston Source: News Corp Australia
A Bomb Squad member searches for other possible explosive devices. Picture: Nicole Garmston Source: News Corp Australia
Police have launched a criminal investigation, believing a device was hidden under the car.
Gazi Ozgan, who lives next door, was the first to rush to Mo’s aid.
“The blast threw me back into my kitchen from the doorway,” Mr Ozgan said.
“Immediately he started screaming, ‘somebody has bombed me’. They put a bomb under the car. It bounced right up in the air off the ground.”
Neighbours rushed to the victim with towels as they waited for paramedics to arrive.
“I wrapped some towels around the legs, they were really bloody and had some shrapnel. He was very, very bad. I did what I could and then waited with him until the ambulance arrived,” Mr Ozgan said.
Investigators believe a device was hidden under the car. Picture: Nicole Garmston Source: News Corp Australia
The damaged car wreck seen from the air. Picture: Twitter/@wpristel7 Source: Twitter
The exploded car in towed away. Picture: Eugene Hyland Source: News Corp Australia
“Mo” was taken to the Royal Melbourne Hospital as firefighters put out the flaming car.
Last night he was under armed police guard.
Hospital staff were under instructions not to provide information on his condition.
A senior firefighter said “Mo” would have smelt the bomb before it went off.
“The stink would have been quite obvious. You would not get in the car,” a source said.
Investigators are now trying to establish how any device was triggered — by opening the car door or turning the ignition key, or even by remote control.
They also will look for witnesses who saw anyone acting suspiciously near the vehicle overnight on Wednesday and early Thursday morning.
Fire officers at the scene of the car explosion in Kiewa Crescent. Picture: Nicole Garmston Source: News Corp Australia
Police and fire crews at the scene. Picture: Nicole Garmston Source: News Corp Australia
Neighbour Mac Nasser ran out to the street when he heard a loud explosion.
“I was inside and I heard a big bang,” Mr Nasser said.
“It was like a bomb going off.”
Residents were later evacuated amid fears further devices may detonate.
Bomb Squad teams searched the street throughout the afternoon amid fears of another bomb.
Residents at the scene of the explosion were told by police the attack was deliberate.
“When we were evacuated by police they told me all the bombs might not have gone off,” neighbour Kylie Gray said.
“There was a huge bang and the entire house shook. It felt like an earthquake.”
Ms Gray said she rushed out of her home and saw the injured man on the street.
She said he was in intense pain and screaming in a foreign language.
mark.buttler@news.com.au
>>>
NEIGHBOUR TELLS: ‘HE WAS SCREAMING, IT WAS LIKE A MOVIE’
GAZI Ozgan’s morning seemed like any other, until an explosion ripped through his quiet street.
Mr Ozgan was standing in his doorway, car keys in hand, as his neighbour’s Ford Mondeo erupted in flames.
The force of the blast sent him sprawling back into his home.
His neighbour, “Mo”, screamed from outside.
“Immediately, he started screaming. It was like something out of a movie,” Mr Ozgan said.
Gazi Ozgan helped his neighbour. Picture: Eugene Hyland Source: News Corp Australia
When he ran outside, Mr Ozgan said the victim had collapsed in his front yard, his lower body on fire, desperately rolling in the dirt in an attempt to smother the flames.
“I knelt next to him trying to help — he kept telling me to call the ambulance. I ran inside and called one, then went back out,” Mr Ozgan said.
“I wrapped some towels around the legs, they were really bloody and had some shrapnel. He was very, very bad. I did what I could and then waited with him until the ambulance arrived.”
Other neighbours flocked to help Mo, as the small suburban community rallied around their fallen neighbour.
By then, thick, black and acrid smoke was billowing from Mo’s smouldering wreck of a car and sirens punctuated the Dallas street.
“I can’t say I thought about it, call it adrenalin or whatever, but I just had to help him,” Mr Ozgan said.
“I was worried the car was going to explode. It was entirely in flames.
“I just knew I had to help.”
After Mo was loaded into an ambulance and taken to the Royal Melbourne Hospital, Mr Ozgan did what he does every day — he went to work.
liam.quinn@news.com.au
No comments:
Post a Comment