A drunk driver completely lost control behind the wheel in New Orleans on Saturday and injured 28 people.
The New Orleans Police Department explained that the man drunkenly drove his pickup truck into a crowd of spectators at the Endymion Mardi Gras parade.
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The incident went down at 6:42 p.m. and became life-threateningly dangerous after the Chevrolet truck hit another vehicle, which then crashed into a third.
“[The driver] then lost control driving over the neutral ground, striking a city dump truck and hitting multiple pedestrians,” police said.
Greg McNeely, a witness at the scene, said that the driver “took out rows of people.”
Fortunately, there were police officers around that were quickly able to respond to the scene and arrest the driver.
“We heard tires screeching, and we looked to our left and saw a dark gray Chevy 1500 Silverado and it looked like he was swerving in between people that were walking, trying to get to the parade route,” 20-year-old LSU student Trey Klechak said. “It seemed like he got pissed off because all of a sudden he slammed the gas and his back tires started and it seemed like his foot never left the gas pedal.”
Klechak continued by saying: “There were bodies flying off the hood while he was still driving. Luckily there was a dump truck parked on the other side, and luckily when he went up on neutral ground, he slammed into the dump truck.”
The victims of the crash ranged from young toddlers to adults in their 40s, according to People.
No one was killed in the wreck.
The incident scene is clear and our Sanitation Crews have begun cleaning the parade route. pic.twitter.com/q2SRbIDVYv
— Mitch Landrieu (@MayorLandrieu) February 26, 2017
Mayor Mitch Landrieu spoke out on the terrifying ordeal.
“Obviously you don’t want to have a day like this,” Landrieu said. “We train year round to respond to events that can’t be stopped because of bad decisions.”
Mayor Landrieu also gave this official statement:
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families,” he said. “We are grateful that none of the injuries appear to be life-threatening. I want to thank all of our emergency personnel for responding quickly, aiding the injured, and apprehending the drunk driver.”
What are your thoughts about this horrific incident?
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