Police were called to Melbourne’s bustling Bourke Street about 6pm on Friday after a white Toyota sedan hit three people. The vehicle then collided with two other vehicles, a Hyundai and a Mazda, near Russell Street.

Victoria Police Superintendent Zorka Dunstan confirmed about 9pm on Friday night that the driver of the Hyundai had died, while two people inside the Mazda have been injured and taken to hospital with minor injuries.

The driver of the Toyota, a 26-year-old man from Melton West, was sitting on top of the car when he was arrested, she said.

He is undergoing a mental health assessment and has not been charged. Superintendent Dunstan confirmed the man is known to police through previous “mental health interactions”.

Five people were assessed by paramedics following the crash, a spokeswoman for Ambulance Victoria said, with one taken to Royal Melbourne Hospital in a serious condition.

Two others were taken to Alfred Hospital in a stable condition while a fourth was taken to St Vincent’s Hospital.

Shocking footage of the aftermath shows one person laying at a tram stop and another on tram tracks as others rush to help them.

In the background, a person can be heard crying.

Blood spatters can be seen on the tram tracks in a separate clip, nearby a woman comforting an injured person.

Superintendent Dunstan said on Friday there is “nothing to suggest any terror links” and no ongoing threat to the public.

“The good thing was we had a quick arrest,” she said.

“At this stage there are no terrorist links and it is a person with mental health issues”

Video shows police arresting the man, believed to be the driver of the Mazda, who was sitting on top of the destroyed car in a white shirt and white pants.

In the clip, the man is pulled from the car by two officers who were on foot patrol in the area at the time, and held before he drops to the ground and is picked back up again.

Officers were then seen escorting him away from the scene.

In the clip, the man is buckled over and appears to stumble as two officers lead him across the road.

Witnesses told The Herald Sun that as the man was led away, several members of the public spat on him.

“People were angry on him, spitting on him,” she said.

Police have closed Burke Street from Swanston Street through to Exhibition Street.

Yarra Trams has suspended services along Bourke Street and Swanston Street, with commuters warned of lengthy delays.

Superintendent Dunstan said the area would remain closed as the investigation continued, and asked anyone with dashcam vision or other information to come forward to police.