A driver drove into a crowd in Szczecin, Poland, injuring at least 19 passers-by. Provincial Governor Adam Rudawski said on Friday that six children were among the injured, and two injured people were in critical condition. There was initially talk of 17 injuries. The police ruled out a terrorist background.
According to Governor Rudawski, the driver initially fled after the incident but was arrested shortly afterwards. “It is not an act of terrorism,” said police spokesman Pawel Pankau. The arrested driver was a 33-year-old Pole. As he fled, the man rammed three cars and their drivers were injured.
According to the police spokesman, the man “drove behind the wheel of a Ford Focus into a group of people who were waiting for the tram at a large intersection in the center of Szczecin.” Initial analyzes indicated “that he was not under the influence of alcohol or drugs,” explained Pankau.
Polish media quoted eyewitnesses as saying that the driver drove into the intersection at high speed and then sped onto the sidewalk and tram tracks. He then fled in his car across the intersection and collided with three cars about a kilometer away.