Vehicle plows into crowd in Austria
June 20, 2015The incident happened on Saturday in the country's second largest city, Graz, around 143 kilometers (89 miles) from the capital, Vienna.
The perpetrator had been arrested and that police had sealed-off the downtown area, public broadcaster ORF reported. It quoted several witnesses as saying the driver of the SUV had apparently sped toward the crowd on one of the main shopping streets at random. Panic broke out as people scrambled to escape the rampaging car.
Eyewitnesses told Austria's APA news agency that the vehicle drove at a speed of around 100 kilometers per hour (62 miles per hour), with one person describing the commotion as sounding "like a gunfight."
At a news conference Hermann Schützenhöfer, head of the Steiermark region, confirmed around 34 people had been injured, saying many remained in critical condition. He described the driver as being "mentally disoriented."
Deputy Governor Michael Schickhofer said around 50 ambulances and 16 medical personnel treated the wounded. He stated that an emergency hotline was being set up for family members worried that their relatives may have been involved in the accident.
an/sms (AP, dpa, AFP)