Margaret McDonald and her two sisters-in-law were shopping in a CBD arcade off Bourke Street, when a man charged a car through a crowd of pedestrians, killing five and injuring dozens nearby.

Ms McDonald was in a shop when she heard loud screams and banging sounds.

People dashed through the arcade, which led Ms McDonald to believe something was chasing them. 

“These people were running and I mean running,” she said. 

“It was just like something you’d see in a movie.”

Ms McDonald and the others in the shop flocked to a room upstairs where they hid for 10 to 15 minutes until it was quiet.

An employee went to check the coast was clear before the three women left the store.

Ms McDonald, who was in Melbourne to watch the Australian Open on Saturday, said they only decided to step off Bourke Street, after the arcade caught her eye.

“I thought, jeez that’s pretty in there,” she said.

“That saved us. If we would have stayed in the mall we would have been in line with that idiot coming down the mall.”

Ms McDonald said after the incident there were police and ambulances everywhere treating victims.

“It was just awful,” she said. “I’ve never seen anything like it in my life.”

One of the deceased victims was a three-month-old boy.

“That poor baby,” Ms McDonald said. “It was just dreadful.”

Police shut down the vicinity, so the women had to walk a few blocks to catch a tram back to where they were staying. 

Once they were out of harms way, Ms McDonald said they decided to stay put.

“We didn’t want to go anywhere, we sat in the bar, had a drink and counted our blessings,” Ms McDonald said.

The worst part of it all for the Telarah woman was the period before she realised what had happened.

But as horrific as the experience was, Ms McDonald said it won’t stop her from going back to the Victorian capital.

“It’s a lovely city and they’re such lovely people,” she said.

A 10-year-old girl, two men aged 25 and 33, and a 32-year-old woman were the others who died after the attack.

A man, James 'Jimmy' Gargasoulas, has been identified as the alleged driver of the car.