A 24-year-old New South Wales woman has died after an alleged deliberate hit-and-run in Maroochydore on Saturday night. 

Mallee Smith was critically injured when Guilherme Dal Bo allegedly drove a Toyota Yaris into a group of eight pedestrians.

Police said the 38-year-old driver left the scene and was later arrested at a nearby residence.

On Sunday, Detective Acting Inspector Peter Hocken said police were treating the incident as “an intentional, deliberate act” after a “minor” altercation between the driver and a group of males. 

Police have alleged the man drove off before returning a short time later and mounting the footpath, where six males and two females were walking.

“The [women] were unknown to the other males; they just happened to be walking on that sidewalk at that time,” Acting Inspector Hocken said.

The driver was charged with eight counts of attempted murder. 

He is expected to appear in the Maroochydore Magistrates Court on December 19.