Police interview of Melbourne rampage driver begins

Police arrest Saeed Noori after the incident in Melbourne's CBD. Photo / Twitter - @LachlanVe

The man who mowed down 18 people - including a New Zealand citizen - on a
busy Melbourne street has been discharged from hospital and is being interviewed by police, Australian media report.

According to the ABC, Saeed Noori, 32, was driven to the Melbourne West police station in an unmarked police car about 9am local time today.

Meanwhile, an 83-year-old and two South Korean nationals aged in their 60s who were injured when Noori allegedly drove a 4WD into crowds about 4.40pm on Thursday are fighting for their lives, The New Daily reports.

Twelve others who were hurt in the incident also remain in hospital.

A 43-year-old Kiwi man was among the 18 people hit by the vehicle. He was taken to hospital but has been discharged.

Photo of the aftermath of an incident on Flinders St in Melbourne, where a car crashed into a crowd of pedestrians Photo / Supplied by Reddit user churrascos

It has previously been revealed that Noori, an Afghan refugee, had allegedly suffered from mental illness.

Victoria police's assistant commissioner Stephen Leane today told media he firmly believed the incident, which happened about 4.40pm local time on Thursday, was a "deliberate act".

"Our investigators will charge him with appropriate offences, if that's what's going to happen today. The motivations for that act, we'll work through."

An off-duty Victorian police officer is understood to have pulled Noori from the wreckage at the scene on Flinders St.

A damaged vehicle is seen at the scene of an incident on Flinders Street, in Melbourne. Photo / AAP

Noori underwent surgery on an injury to his hand yesterday before being discharged from hospital and taken into custody.

While he was in hospital he was alleged to have made comments to police about voices in his head and the "poor treatment of Muslims".

The head of the state's police force, Shane Patton, told the Herald Sun Noori also rambled about Allah and the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO).

Patton said Noori had been on a mental health plan and missed an appointment on Thursday morning.

"The significant flavour of what we're dealing with appears to be mental health, but nonetheless, given what he has said, we continue to explore, fully, all avenues," Patton added while speaking to ABC Melbourne.