At least 10 people are feared dead and 30 suffered injuries after a car ploughed into a crowd in New Orleans on New Year’s Day. Some reports said that the driver of the car, believed to be a pickup truck, also fired at the crowd.
Officials said a crowd was celebrating when the pickup truck drove into it at the intersection of Canal and Bourbon Street. Witnesses also reported seeing police firing at the driver after the attack.
“The 8th District is currently working a mass casualty incident involving a vehicle that drove into a large crowd on Canal and Bourbon Street. There are 30 injured patients that have been transported by NOEMS and 10 fatalities. Public safety partners are responding on scene,” New Orleans’ emergency preparedness campaign NOLA Ready said on its website.
The incident comes days after five people were killed in a similar car-ramming attack in Germany. More than 200 people were also injured in the December 20 attack in the eastern city of Magdeburg, which was allegedly carried out by a man of Saudi origin. The attacker has been arrested and police are investigating whether he is mentally ill.