A speeding car plowed into pedestrians on a sidewalk in New York City’s busy Times Square on Thursday, killing one person and injuring a dozen, according to witnesses, and police said the incident did not appear to be an act of terrorism.
A Reuters witness said one person was covered with a bloodstained blanket after the collision, which occurred around noon ET (1600 GMT) at the Midtown Manhattan tourist venue.
The city’s fire department said there were 13 casualties.
Hundreds of thousands of people, many of them tourists from around the world, pass daily through the bustling commercial area, the heart of the Broadway theater district.
Witnesses said the motorist had driven a red Honda sedan against traffic and onto the sidewalk, striking pedestrians. The car crashed into a pole and came to rest at 45th Street and Broadway before police took the driver away.
Shoes were scattered at the scene.
“People were being hit and rolling off the car,” said Josh Duboff, an employee at the adjacent Thomson Reuters headquarters who jumped out of the way to avoid being struck.
Television footage showed police officers restraining a man in a dark T-shirt and placing him in a police car.
News outlets said the suspect was a 26-year-old male from the city’s Bronx borough. Reuters was not immediately able to confirm those reports.
Cheryl Howard and her daughter were out shopping when the car sped down the sidewalk. “I’m so freaked out!” the daughter said. “They mowed everyone down.” {eoa}
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