Bellingham crash: Fresh appeal after Mercedes ploughs into pedestrians in south east London

Police have launched a fresh appeal after a Mercedes smashed into pedestrians in south east London, leaving one man fighting for his life and four people injured.

Police and paramedics were called to Bromley Road in Bellingham at 8.20am on Sunday to reports of a car hitting pedestrians and a wall.

One witness reported seeing a person trapped underneath the car after the crash, which happened near Catford bus garage and a hand car wash.

Four men and a woman were rushed to hospital, where one man, 31, remains in a critical condition.

A 35-year-old woman and a 25-year-old man were initially said to also be in a critical condition but were later described by police as “serious but stable”.

Two other men, aged 36 and 46, suffered minor injuries.

Police said the 23-year-old driver was detained by an off-duty police officer.

He was later arrested on suspicion of causing serious injury by dangerous driving and drink driving.

The driver was also taken to hospital with a head injury.

He was later taken to a south London police station for questioning but has since been bailed.

He is due to return for questioning in early May.

Police said there was no suggestion the incident was terror-related.

A neighbour told the Standard the crash took place beside a hand car wash that was already open for business on Sunday morning. It is not known whether anyone at the car wash was hurt.

Another said: "It seems like the car's ploughed into two bollards and ended up in the hedges by the bus garage. I hope everyone's ok.

"It's so sad, this always happens on this strip of road. There's always some accident or the other."

"It's really heartbreaking because we live here and I'm always seeing these accidents," he said. "I wonder what it's going to take for some action.

"From what I could see everyone seemed alive when leaving in the ambulances, so I hope it stays that way."

London Ambulance service said medical crews arrived at the scene in Catford in less than seven minutes.

A spokeswoman said: "We treated five patients for a range of head, chest and leg injuries at the scene and took all five to hospital as a priority."

Anyone who witnessed the collision is asked to contact the Serious Collision Investigation Unit's witness appeal line on 020 8285 1574 or via 101.