US: Five dead, over 40 injured as car runs through Christmas parade
A suspect has been taken into custody.
Five people were killed and more than 40, including children, were injured after a vehicle ploughed through a Christmas parade in Waukesha city in United States’ Wisconsin on Sunday, the police confirmed, according to BBC reported.
Waukesha Police chief Dan Thompson said that a suspect was taken into custody. The motive behind the act is yet to be ascertained.
“The Waukesha Christmas parade was taking place when a red SUV broke through the barricades, westbound, headed down Main Street,” Thompson told reporters, according to AFP. “The vehicle struck more than 20 individuals, some of the individuals were children and there were some fatalities as a result of this incident.”
Videos accessed by AP show the car running over a group of girls dancing in the parade and a marching band. An witness said that children were laying all over the road after the incident and police personnel had to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation or CPR on many people.
Fire Chief Steven Howard said that 11 adults and 12 children were injured after the car tried to run them over people in the parade. They were taken to the hospital by officials from Howard’s department.
The Children’s Wisconsin hospital said it had admitted 15 patients after the incident, The New York Times reported. Details about their conditions were not immediately available.
The police said that they had fired at the car to stop it as it tried to run over people, AFP reported. However, no one was injured when the police shot at the car, the officials said.