It has been reported that at least 28 party-goers have been injured at a parade in new orleans when a truck plowed into them. The crash happened during the Endymion Parade at around 6:45 p.m at the corner of Orleans and N. Carrollton avenues.
The incident
Micheal Harrison, who is the Superintendent of the New Orleans Police Department said that the 26-year-old driver seemed to be intoxicated. The possibility of a terrorist attack has been ruled out.
The ages of the victims vary from 3 to early 40's. 21 of them were hospitalized while 7 refused treatment.
5 of the victims are in critical condition. A witness, Valerie told The Daily Mail that she was able to pull out one of the victims, a young boy from a ladder to safety. The toddler escaped with minor injuries. One of those injured is a female police officer. However, her condition is not life-threatening.
Though it was reported that 5 of those hospitalized are in critical condition, the Mayor, Mitch Landrieu said that he was grateful that no one suffered injuries that could be life-threatening. The Witnesses say that the truck crashed into 2 vehicles before finally hitting the crowd. Then it finally struck a dump truck which halted it. Many were pinned below the truck as a result of the accident.
The Witnesses
A 20-year-old student, Trey Klechak, said that they heard the screeching of tires and when they looked towards their left, they saw the dark gray truck trying to swerve into the people. Bodies were flying off as he was driving. He added that if it was not for the dump truck parked on the other side, the casualties would have been far greater.
Another witness Greg McNeely told Nola that the Truck Driver took rows of people out of the road. He described the driver as young, too young to be drinking in such a manner.
The driver has been arrested for driving under influence. However, he has not been named yet. It doesn't seem that the driver suffered any major injury himself since he walked along with the police normally when taken into custody.
