Nineteen people were injured on Friday after a car crashed into a group of pedestrians and other vehicles in central Szczecin (northwest), authorities said, with police ruling out a "
terrorist act"
.
“Among the injured are six children.
Two injured people are in critical condition
,” said Adam Rudawski, prefect of the region, adding that the driver was arrested after fleeing.
“This is not a terrorist act
,” Szczecin police spokesperson Pawel Pankau told the press.
“He is a 33-year-old Polish citizen from Szczecin,”
he said, adding that the number of injured people could change.
Two successive accidents
According to him,
“the man driving a Ford Focus hit a group of people who were waiting for the tram”
on a major intersection in Szczecin with protected crossings.
“The very first analyzes indicate that he was not under the influence of alcohol or drugs
,” Pawel Pankau further declared.
According to witnesses, cited by the Polish press, the driver arriving at the intersection at high speed veered onto the protected crossing, the sidewalk and the tramway, knocking over people.
After crossing the intersection, he fled in his car, causing a collision with three vehicles about a kilometer further and injuring their drivers.