Featured Image Credit: YouTube/ABC 7 Chicago
Topics: Los Angeles, US News, Hollywood
Niamh Shackleton
At least 20 people have been injured after a car drove into a crowd of people, the Los Angeles Fire Department says.
The ordeal unfolded around 2am local time today (July 19) in Santa Monica Boulevard in East Hollywood.
A grey car is said to have mounted the sidewalk and struck a taco cart before mowing down several people standing outside a club.
There have since been reports that at least 20 people have been injured in the ordeal, some of whom are in critical condition. Others are reported to be in a 'serious' or 'fair' condition.
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Elsewhere, The Sun says as many as 31 individuals have been left wounded.
One person is thought to have sustained a gunshot wound. A witness alleged that they heard a gunshot before the car plowed into the crowd, WION reports.
The same witness went on to say that the driver of the car remained in the vehicle when security guards swarmed around it and the person, thought to be a man, was then removed from the car and tackled to the ground.
Speaking on the matter The Los Angeles Fire Department's (LAFD) public information officer Captain Adam Van Gerpen said, via Sky News: "Apparently there was a vehicle that had somebody who lost consciousness. We have reports that there was a gunshot wound in one of the patients."
It's unclear how or why the driver fell unconscious.
In an updated statement shared to the LAFD's website in the last hour, it was said that over 100 emergency personnel were at the scene.
It read: "#EastHollywood; 124 fire personnel assisted at this scene. Transports include: 7 in critical condition, 6 in serious condition, 10 in fair condition. 7 patients refused transport after assessment on scene."
At the time of writing, it is unclear if the man drove the car into the crowd intentionally or not.
The shocking ordeal is one of two incidents to have taken place in Los Angeles in the last couple of days.
Yesterday (July 18), a deadly explosion at a sheriff training facility claimed the lives of three people.
The explosion was reported around 7.30am local time at the Biscailuz Training Facility, said Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department spokesperson Nicole Nishida.
It was not immediately known what caused the explosion or what the department members were doing at the time. Sheriff’s homicide detectives were on the scene.
After being checked by a bomb squad, the facility has since been rendered safe, the BBC says.