Australian girl, 4, thrown from bridge

AUSTRALIA: A four-year-old Australian girl was thrown off a bridge in Melbourne on Thursday and is in critical condition after landing in the Yarra River, 58 metres (174 feet) below, police said.

A man driving a 4WD car stopped on the West Gate Bridge during peak hour, stepped out of the car carrying the girl and dropped her over the edge, a police spokesman told local media. "The child suffered fairly extensive injuries and the paramedics spent some time trying to resuscitate the child," said ambulance spokesman Paul Bentley.

A man, aged about 35, was arrested just an hour later outside Melbourne's Federal Court, which hears family case matters, with two other children in his car, police said.

Melbourne, Thursday, Reuters