A food delivery rider and father of two has died after he and another rider were allegedly stabbed during a confrontation in Melbourne’s CBD.
Police were called to the Chongqing Chicken Pot City restaurant on Frederick Way, near Queen Victoria Market, shortly after 8pm on Friday. They found the registered HungryPanda rider suffering from stab wounds.
Paramedics performed CPR, but the man was pronounced dead at the scene. A second rider, aged 34, was found nearby with a suspected stab wound and taken to hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening.
Detectives believe the two men confronted a man they had allegedly seen tampering with their bikes, sparking an altercation.
A 61-year-old man from Footscray was arrested in the suburb on Saturday morning. He remains in custody and is expected to be interviewed by police.
Officers established two crime scenes about 100 metres apart, with major roads closed while forensic investigators examined the area. Police said they were not seeking anyone else in connection with the incident.
Zeikei Shou, a university student who lives nearby, said he heard a commotion before arriving to find what he described as “chaos”.
“Another two delivery guys tried to stop him but one of them fell, and then he was stabbed. He is now in hospital,” he said.
Mr Shou said both victims were from China and called for greater protection for food delivery riders, whom he said were frequently harassed and assaulted in the CBD.
“One man lost his life, he is a father of two. He has delivered food to me before, I know his face,” he said.
He said the victim had been in Australia on a working holiday visa and worked between 10 and 12 hours a day delivering food. The man’s family were believed to be travelling from China and were expected to arrive in Melbourne on Saturday night.
HungryPanda said it was deeply saddened by the death and had established a dedicated response team to support the rider’s family and the wider delivery community.
“The safety and wellbeing of every delivery rider remain among our highest priorities,” the company said, adding that it was providing guidance and support to its riders.
