Melbourne: Vets mowed down at Anzac parade

Two members of the Ceylon Ex-service Association taking part in Melbourne's Anzac Day parade are in a critical condition after being hit by their own truck.

Police confirmed that a truck had hit several pedestrians near the National Gallery of Victoria on St Kilda Road near Southbank Boulevard.

Witnesses told ABC the scene was horrific, with four or five people dragged underneath underneath the vehicle.

An ambulance spokesman said paramedics were alerted to the incident shortly after 12.30pm (AEST).

Inspector Greg Doueal said two people were taken to The Alfred and Royal Melbourne hospitals with critical injuries.

The other four people who were hit were also hospitalised as was the truck driver, believed to be aged 90, and a man on the back of the vehicle.

Police would test the truck's mechanics to determine why it crashed.

"Something happened inside the truck which caused it to canon into the back of the marchers and hit six people," Inspector Doueal said.

Witnesses said a WWII-era military truck taking part in the parade surged forward unexpectedly, hitting a group of veterans marching ahead of it.

Onlooker Michael Ibrahim said he heard the accelerator revving and looked up and saw the truck accelerate "from walking pace to up to 10kph".

Mr Ibrahim ran over and saw bodies strewn across the tram tracks. "One of two things had happened: either he (the driver) has hit the accelerator or accelerator has jammed on him.

"The poor guy (driver) of the truck freaked out. He was holding his head. He knew what he had done. I think he (fell) to the ground.

"There were bodies everywhere. Just all on the ground."

Simon Warren said he was serving a customer at his art stall on St Kilda Road when he heard "screaming and revving".

"It looked like it would plough through everyone but luckily it veered to the left and didn't keep going forward. I have never witnessed a severe accident. Everyone was in shock and screaming."

Warwick Meerwald was marching with the Ceylon Ex-service Association when the truck ran out of control and narrowly missed him.

"We were marching and this truck came from nowhere and ran into them," Mr Meerwald said.

Sharon Taranto told the Herald Sun she was standing with her paramedic niece in the crowd when the accident occurred.

She said some of those hit were believed to have broken pelvises and internal injuries.

Witness Robert Kirkwood was just metres ahead of the truck and said he saw it "taking off like a jet".

"I turned around and saw one of the old men thrown off the back at a distance of two metres bounce when he hit the ground," he told the Herald Sun.

Mr Kirkwood said the driver of the truck, a Chev-Blitz built for all-terrain use during the 1940's, was "in complete and total shock".

- AAP, NZHERALD STAFF