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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
World
Charlie Jones

Brooklyn crash: Multiple people injured after U-Haul truck smashes into pedestrians

Eight people have been injured after a U-Haul truck crashed into pedestrians in New York.

Bomb squads have been deployed to the scene and footage shows the area swarmed with first responders surrounding a vehicle on the pavement.

The incident happened at around 11am local time on Bay Ridge Parkway and Fifth Avenue in New York's Brooklyn borough in the US.

A police spokesperson says a total of eight people were injured, with two left in a critical condition, two serious, and the other four suffered minor injuries

New York councilman Justin Brannan said: "A man driving a U-Haul went on a rampage in Bay Ridge. He was just apprehended in Sunset Park.

"Several people were hit and badly injured. We have no idea of motives at this time but this wasn't an accident. "

Reports suggest the driver has been arrested.

Did you witness the crash? Contact us at webnews@mirror.co.uk with pictures and video

Multiple emergency responders are on the scene after a vehicle struck multiple people in Brooklyn (CBS News)

Six people were injured during the 'rampage', local reports suggest.

According to ABC7NY, a man in his 30s was hit and rushed to Lutheran Hospital in critical condition.

Three men on mopeds were also struck and sustained minor injuries.

Councilman Justin Brannan said in way of an update: "We think he hit at least 6 people with the truck and 2 are in very bad shape. PLEASE pray for these folks."

Police have told local reporters the incident started when the driver fled an attempted car stop in the Bay Ridge area.

They were able to box in the vehicle several blocks away but he rammed two police cars out the way and escaped.

The driver fled north on the Gowanus Expressway before exiting on Hamilton Avenue where he was surrounded by police at Columbia Street in Red Hook.

Multiple people have been injured after a U-Haul truck crashed into pedestrians (CBS News)

A spokesperson for New York City Mayor Eric Adams said a suspect is in custody.

They added: "There are no additional credible threats at this time."

Reports suggest the suspect told officers he wanted to die.

CCTV footage reportedly from the scene shows a U-Haul van clip a moped before mounting the curb with a police vehicle following closely behind it.

A councilman has reported several people injured in the incident (ABC 7)

A lucky pedestrian dives out the way missing the speeding van by inches.

This latest incident coincides with the first day of the trial of Sayfullo Saipov, who killed eight people in a rented Home Depot truck on the West Side Highway in 2017.

It was not clear whether the two events were related.

The 29-year-old is accused of driving into a bike path in Lower Manhattan, hitting a number of cyclists and runners.

Footage showed the truck ramming onto the pavement (ABC 7 NY)

The truck then hit a school bus and the suspect emerged with imitation guns in his hands but was shot in the leg by police and taken into custody.

He was shouting 'Allahu Akbar!' and brandishing a pellet gun and a paintball gun.

Former NYPD Chief of Detectives Roberts Boyce told ABC News: “It’s the first thing I thought.

“I worked the Sayfull Saipov case I remember how dangerous it was and what he did and how deadly it was.

"That was the first thing that came to mind when I heard the rented truck. So let’s hope it’s not that and it’s a person in mental distress at this point and it’s nothing more than that. It’s difficult to link the two right now but how can you not think about that?”

The terror suspect is an Uzbek national who came to America in 2010 .

He had a driver's licence for Florida but also had links to Ohio and New Jersey.

Reports suggest the suspect told officers he wanted to die (CBS News)

If jurors decide in favour of the death penalty, it could be the first execution in New York since 1963.

Saipov was found guilty of federal crimes and so is eligible for the sentence of capital punishment.

The last time someone was put to death for a federal crime in the sate was in 1954 and the jury’s vote must be unanimous for him to be put to death.

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