ONE PERSON HAS been killed and six others in a critical condition after a car crashed into pedestrians on a sidewalk on the Las Vegas Strip, police said.
The vehicle was in the northbound lanes of Las Vegas Boulevard near Bellagio Way when the vehicle drove up onto the sidewalk in front of the Paris Hotel & Casino and struck pedestrians, including 37 people who were taken to the hospital, Lieutenant Peter Boffelli said.
One person was killed, six were in critical condition, 26 injured and four were treated and released, he said.
“This is a huge tragedy that has happened on our Strip,” Boffelli said.
Clark County Fire Chief Greg Cassell said the call for help came in at 6.38pm local time and 70 emergency crew workers were sent to the scene.
The female driver left the scene. But she has since been taken into custody and is being interviewed and tested for alcohol and controlled substances.
The crash in front of the Paris and Planet Hollywood hotels occurred on a busy stretch of the Las Vegas Strip across from the dancing water fountains of the Bellagio hotel-casino where visitors crowd sidewalks as they was walk from one casino to another. The Miss Universe pageant was being held nearby at the Planet Hollywood Las Vegas Resort & Casino at the time of the crash.
Boffelli said the police department’s counter-terrorism unit was at the scene but a motive has not been determined. “(It’s) unknown if it’s an intentional act or impairment act,” he said. Las Vegas Police Officer Jesse Roybal said the incident did not appear to be a terrorist act.
The Clark County Fire Department said in a statement that up to 50 people were given care by 70 emergency crew workers.
Those in critical condition are being treated at University Medical Center and Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center.
Las Vegas Police Captain Brett Zimmerman said that while terrorism has been ruled out, but that the crash appears to be intentional.
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