According to a breaking news report by Dailymail, at least three people are dead and another 34 injured after an SUV ploughed into a crowd of people in Graz, Austria.
Eyewitnesses
say the driver rammed into crowds at up to 90mph before he got out and
began randomly stabbing bystanders, which included the elderly and
policemen.
A
seven-year-old boy and a woman are thought to be among those killed in
the onslaught on the main shopping street of Herrengasse.
The
governor of the state has described the driver as a 'deranged lone
assassin' and the police say the man, who is believed to be a
26-year-old Austrian, was distressed over 'family problems'.
The driver
did not resist when he was arrested by the police - who say he acted
alone - and they have no reason to believe it was an act of terrorism.
He
killed two people while speeding towards the main square where he
ploughed into an outdoor dining table full of people, a spokesperson for
the regional police said during a press conference today.
A
local resident told Sky News that her friend saw people flying through
the air, adding: 'Apparently he was attacking elderly people with a
knife.'
Dr Sea Rotmann says her friend told her how the driver was 'doing between 100km-an-hour and 150km-an-hour' on the busy road.
A waitress at the Pronto restaurant on the main square told the Kleinezeitung website she heard screaming before she even saw the driver.
Simone
Zucca added: 'He raced through the front of the restaurant without
braking... He then caught a boy who was thrown against the wall.'
Another eyewitness told the BBC he saw bodies lying on the ground 'covered in blood'.
About 60 ambulances converged on the scene and the Austrian auto club sent four helicopters to bring the victims to hospitals.
The
city council released a statement which read: 'At 12pm there was an
appalling incident in the centre of Graz, which has caused major alarm
and left the city deeply shaken.'
Provincial Governor Hermann Schuetzenhoefer said at least one of his injured victims is in a critical condition.
He added: 'We are shocked and dismayed... there is no explanation and no excuse for this attack.
'We have much to do to ensure cohesion in our community, which has clearly become difficult for many people.'
The incident took place in Graz, Austria's second largest city, and police officers have now sealed off the area.
German-language website Krone reported that the man arrested by police is of Bosnian origin.
'People were screaming in panic and ran into the surrounding shops to get to safety', an eyewitness told the website.
Police
chiefs told the Austrian Kleine Zeitung newspaper that the suspect got
out of the SUV and started stabbing people with a knife.
Austria's APA news agency said two bodies were lying near the scene, covered with blankets.
Bishop Wilhelm Krautwaschl, the Bishop of Graz, shared his condolences on Facebook.
'I am shocked by what's happened, I pray for the victims and for those who have rushed to help then', he said.
The
victims will be remembered at a memorial service, which will take place
at the Grazer Stadtpfarrkirche church in the centre of the city at 6pm
today.
Mayor
Siegfried Nagl ordered black flags of mourning flown from all municipal
buildings and cancelled street fests and other city events
Does evil ever end in this world? Safer to just stay home and hardly go out, am sick of all these killings.
ReplyDeletetoo many depressed and mentally ill in europe and america
ReplyDeleteMy dear it's worse in this part of the world.
ReplyDeleteIt's just that many slide past unreported. I think it's time an eye for an eye recourse be pursued by the police and the law. The idiot didn't resist arrest because he knew he would taken care of in prison after a brutal murder of several innocent people.
I suggest he should be run over slowly by an armored tank driven by relatives of his victims in a public square to deter other idiots like him.
My dear it's worse in this part of the world.
ReplyDeleteIt's just that many slide past unreported. I think it's time an eye for an eye recourse be pursued by the police and the law. The idiot didn't resist arrest because he knew he would taken care of in prison after a brutal murder of several innocent people.
I suggest he should be run over slowly by an armored tank driven by relatives of his victims in a public square to deter other idiots like him.
My dear it's worse in this part of the world.
ReplyDeleteIt's just that many slide past unreported. I think it's time an eye for an eye recourse be pursued by the police and the law. The idiot didn't resist arrest because he knew he would taken care of in prison after a brutal murder of several innocent people.
I suggest he should be run over slowly by an armored tank driven by relatives of his victims in a public square to deter other idiots like him.
My dear it's worse in this part of the world.
ReplyDeleteIt's just that many slide past unreported. I think it's time an eye for an eye recourse be pursued by the police and the law. The idiot didn't resist arrest because he knew he would taken care of in prison after a brutal murder of several innocent people.
I suggest he should be run over slowly by an armored tank driven by relatives of his victims in a public square to deter other idiots like him.