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Two dead as car hits crowd at South By Southwest festival Two dead as car hits crowd at South by Southwest festival
(about 3 hours later)
Police say two people have died after a car drove through temporary barricades set up for the South By Southwest (SXSW) festival in Texas and struck a crowd of pedestrians. Two people have been killed and 23 injured after a suspected drunken driver fleeing police crashed through barricades set up for the South by Southwest festival in Texas.
Lt Brian Moon says two people were confirmed dead at the scene in central Austin, on a street where several clubs are. The officer said that 21 others were taken to hospital, most with minor injuries. Five to seven had more serious injuries, he added. Art Acevedo, Austin's police chief, said five of the injured were in critical condition. The crash happened around 12.30 am local time as the driver tried to evade a pursuing police officer. Acevedo said the two people who died were on a moped that the motorist hit. The car also hit pedestrians in front of a club that was emptying.
The crash happened at about 12.30am local time on Thursday. Police say the driver has been taken into custody. The police chief told reporters during a news conference that the motorist also struck a cab before crashing, jumping out of his car and trying to run. A pursuing officer shocked him with a stun gun and took him into custody.
The man, whose name has not been released, faces two counts of capital murder and 23 counts of aggravated assault with a vehicle, Avevedo said.
The accident stunned those at the annual SXSW music, film and interactive conference that draws tens of thousands to Austin each year. Many were getting real-time reports of the accident from social media.
The street was full of concert-goers just minutes earlier, but officials had cleared the street because it was a fire lane. Acevedo did not identify the driver or the victims and asked witnesses and those who might have taken video to contact police rather than post it to the internet. He said all the injured were taken to local hospitals.
Police said the man pulled into a nearby petrol station after an officer tried to stop him, wove through cars and then took off at a high speed the wrong way down a one-way street. He took a right turn on Red River Street, crashing through a barricade and narrowly missing a police officer who was standing guard, they said.
He hit some of the victims in front of the Mohawk, a local club hosting Spin events during the five-day music conference, police said. He continued down the street where he struck and killed the two victims on the moped and then hit the cab before finally crashing, they said.
Officers had closed off a two-block section of downtown Austin and continued to investigate into the early morning. Acevedo said there were no plans to change safety protocols at the festival.