Russian taxi-driver plows into pedestrians, injures Mexican fans
News & Trends •
more bystanders chased after him and could be seen trying to tackle him to the ground as the footage ended1 a taxi drove into a crowd of pedestrians near moscows red square on saturday injuring eight people including two mexicans in the city for the soccer world cup which russia is hosting officials and eyewitnesses said1 moscows traffic management authority said the taxi driver had a drivers license issued in kyrgyzstan a mainly muslim ex-soviet republic1 he was identified as analbek uulu from kyrgyzstan1 traffic management authority cited the driver who was in police custody as saying he had not driven into the crowd on purpose1 moscow mayor sergei sobyanin said in a post on twitter there was an unpleasant incident with a taxi. the driver lost control of the vehicle1 the citys police said they had opened a criminal investigation into a suspected violation of the traffic code1 eight people were hurt and had been taken to hospital moscow citys healthcare department said in a statement. it said seven were in a satisfactory condition while one woman was seriously hurt1 the mexican embassy in moscow said two mexican women had been lightly injured. also among those hurt were a ukrainian and two russian citizens russias tass news agency quoted a source in the emergency services as saying1 video of the incident posted on social media showed the yellow hyundai taxi pull sharply out of a line of stationery traffic accelerate and mount the narrow pavement which was packed with pedestrians1 the vehicle drove for about 10 meters along the pavement bowling over pedestrians with some of them being carried along on the bonnet of the car1 the taxi came to a halt after hitting a traffic sign. as bystanders tried to pull open the drivers side door the driver dressed in black trousers and black t-shirt jumped out and sprinted away1 the incident took place as residents and visiting soccer fans thronged the centre of moscow on a balmy summer evening a short distance from the kremlin1 a witness told reuters that some of the people hit were wearing mexican team colours. mexico take on germany on sunday in their first world cup match at moscows luzhniki stadium and thousands of mexican fans are in the russian capital1 a second witness at the scene told reuters about the driver of the taxi he was pulled out of the vehicle he ran off but bystanders apprehended him. he was shouting it wasnt me1 another witness viktoria geraimovich said she called the emergency services on her mobile phone1 describing the actions of the driver she said he ran into a group of mexicans. there were shouts moans. he was only stopped because he hit a traffic sign1 someone gave him a punch in the face. he stayed in the car people came up to him said what are you doing punched him in the face he opened the door and tried to run away1 its scary that it was in the center of moscow and i was right opposite she said1 moscows traffic management authority said the driver was not drunk and interfax news agency cited a source saying there was no alcohol in his blood1 the same source told interfax the driver had said he fell asleep at the wheel and accidentally pressed the accelerator pedal1 russian authorities have vowed to host a safe soccer world cup which russia is hosting for the first time ever. it is taking place in 11 cities until july 151 in central moscow authorities have installed heavy concrete blocks across the entrances to pedestrianized areas following a spate of incidents in european cities in which vehicles were used to mow down people1 the u.s. state department on friday updated its travel advice on russia saying terrorist groups were plotting attacks1