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Ten people have been killed after a car plowed into a crowd of people in New Orleans in the early hours of New Year’s Day.
The incident took place on the city’s Canal and Bourbon Street at around 3am, as people gathered to ring in 2025.
A statement on Nola Ready said 30 people had also been injured in the mass casualty event and that emergency services are on the scene.
Witness accounts recalled a truck crashing into a crowd at high speed before the driver got out and started firing a weapon, with police returning fire, CBS reported.
Footage circulating online, which appears to show the aftermath of the incident, shows multiple lying on the floor as people run from the area.
One person who says they witnessed the incident described it on social media as the “most horrific thing I’ve ever seen”.
They said they saw a “truck crashing through the barricades” before seeing it “run into a crowd” and “people flying as it hit them”.
30 injured in incident sent to 5 hospitals across the area
The 30 people injured when a driver hit a crowd on Bourbon Street have been sent to the following hospitals, according to the city’s disaster preparedness campaign, NOLA Ready:
- University Medical Center
- Touro Hospital
- East Jefferson General Hospital
- Ochsner Medical Center Jefferson Campus
- Ochsner Baptist Campus
Joe Middleton1 January 2025 12:30
Louisiana governor condemns ‘horrific act of violence’ on Bourbon Street
Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry has urged people to avoid the area and said both him and his wife are “praying for all the victims” on the scene.
In a post on X, he said: “A horrific act of violence took place on Bourbon Street earlier this morning.
”Please join Sharon and I in praying for all the victims and first responders on scene. I urge all near the scene to avoid the area.”
Joe Middleton1 January 2025 12:21
Emergency preparedness department tells people to avoid the area
The city of New Orleans emergency preparedness campaign (NOLA Ready) has warned people to stay away from Bourbon Street and Canal after the incident.
“There has been a mass casualty incident on Canal and Bourbon Street. Get yourself away from the area,” Nola Ready says in a post on X.
Joe Middleton1 January 2025 12:16
Driver ‘got out and opened fire’ witness claims
A witness has claimed that the driver of the vehicle got out of the vehicle and started firing a weapon after the crash, CBS News reports.
Police officers are said to have returned fire, though New Orleans Police Department has yet to confirm this.
A reporter at the scene described seeing multiple victims lying injured on the ground at the intersection of Canal Street and Bourbon Street.
Sam Rkaina1 January 2025 12:06
Police at scene of New Orleans fatal crash after reports of car driving into crowd
Sam Rkaina1 January 2025 12:02
Ten dead and 30 injured
Ten people have been killed and 30 injured after a car reportedly plowed into a group of people in New Orleans’ Bourbon Street in the early hours of New Year’s Day.
Witness accounts recalled a truck crashing into a crowd at high speed before the driver got out and started firing a weapon, with police returning fire, CBS reported.
Nola Ready, the department responsible for emergency preparedness in New Orleans, said responders were attending a “mass casualty incident involving a vehicle that drove into a large crowd on Canal and Bourbon Street”. It confirmed the casualty toll.
Footage circulating online, which appears to show the aftermath of the incident, shows multiple lying on the floor as people run from the area.
Sam Rkaina1 January 2025 11:50
