A man in a pickup truck drove into a crowd near the French Quarter of New Orleans, United States, on Wednesday January 1. It left at least 10 dead and 30 injured.
In the United States, a vehicle drove into the crowd in New Orleans on the morning of Wednesday January 1, on the edge of the French Quarter of the American city, reports franceinfo. The accident left at least 10 dead and 30 injured who were distributed to different hospitals in the region. “Everyone started yelling and screaming and running towards the back, then we were locked in for a little while and it calmed down, but they wouldn’t let us leave,” testified one woman who found in a nightclub on the street. In a statement, the city’s emergency authority said the accident involved “a large number of victims,” while a vehicle “ran into the crowd on Canal and Bourbon Street,” said RTL.
Another man testified that he heard “gunshots.” According to the American media CBS News, several witnesses said they saw a truck rushing “at high speed” into the crowd. They said the driver jumped out of his vehicle and then began firing a gun, prompting a police response. Two police officers were injured and are in “stable condition”.
City Mayor LaTonya Cantrell said the city of New Orleans was hit by “a terrorist attack,” reported BFM TV. The FBI for its part estimated that it was not a terrorist attack, but that explosives had been found in the man’s vehicle. “We are trying to confirm whether or not this is an active, functioning device,” Alethea Duncan of the FBI said during a press briefing. Authorities said he was determined to “wreak carnage” and did not say whether or not the man had been arrested. A federal investigation has been opened and it is recommended not to approach the “eight blocks” around. American media reported that the alleged perpetrator was dead.