South By Southwest - Car Crash Kills Two People, Several Injured
Terrible news arrive from the US. At least two people have died, and 23 are injured, after a car ran through the intersection of 9th Street and Red River Street during the annual South By Southwest (SXSW), in Austin, Texas. The driver attempting to escape the police broke through a barrier and drove into a crowd of people. The accident happened near the Mohawk venue following ??? (Crosses) show. South By Southwest offers musical performances (including metal bands), conferences, films, showcases, among other things. For instance, Kylesa performed there on March 11th and The Atlas Moth is scheduled to perform tonight at a different venue.
According to the The Daily Texan, Austin police chief Art Acevedo said the incident began just after midnight when police attempted to pull over a vehicle at the Shell gas station near I35, and the car cut through the gas station lot and drove the wrong way down 9th street. After traveling two blocks and striking a moped and a taxi, the car struck a van on the corner of 11th and Red River. The driver attempted to flee before being tazed by police.
SXSW released this statement about the accident: "Our thoughts and prayers go out to those affected by the tragic accident that took place last night here in Austin. We appreciate and commend the first responders, as well as the city agencies who so quickly sprung into action."
A statement from SXSW Managing Director Roland Swenson: "We will be making schedule and venue changes for programming in the surrounding area of last night's events. All other programming will continue as previously scheduled. The SXSW staff is stunned and deeply moved by the events of last night. Dozens of us were on the scene when the incident occurred and we worked closely with APD to create a perimeter around the area, turning back all the visitors spilling out of the clubs who headed north on Red River Street. To avoid confusion we plan to carry on with our scheduled daytime events at the Austin Convention Center in order to serve our tens of thousands of participants during this tragic time.
"All of the SXSW staff and volunteers reported for their regular duties this morning and will continue working today on the event. We are contacting all of the venues to find out if they have made any decisions about their operations that might impact our visitors. Despite all of our preparations for dealing with a major incident during SXSW, nothing could really prepare us for how this feels. As much as we would like to just go home and spend time absorbing the shock of this horrific event, we feel our best use is to continue to operate today. Our thoughts and prayers are with the injured and with the families of the fatalities."
You can follow the latest updates on this over here.
According to the The Daily Texan, Austin police chief Art Acevedo said the incident began just after midnight when police attempted to pull over a vehicle at the Shell gas station near I35, and the car cut through the gas station lot and drove the wrong way down 9th street. After traveling two blocks and striking a moped and a taxi, the car struck a van on the corner of 11th and Red River. The driver attempted to flee before being tazed by police.
Photo by Cameron Peterson / Daily Texan Staff
SXSW released this statement about the accident: "Our thoughts and prayers go out to those affected by the tragic accident that took place last night here in Austin. We appreciate and commend the first responders, as well as the city agencies who so quickly sprung into action."
A statement from SXSW Managing Director Roland Swenson: "We will be making schedule and venue changes for programming in the surrounding area of last night's events. All other programming will continue as previously scheduled. The SXSW staff is stunned and deeply moved by the events of last night. Dozens of us were on the scene when the incident occurred and we worked closely with APD to create a perimeter around the area, turning back all the visitors spilling out of the clubs who headed north on Red River Street. To avoid confusion we plan to carry on with our scheduled daytime events at the Austin Convention Center in order to serve our tens of thousands of participants during this tragic time.
"All of the SXSW staff and volunteers reported for their regular duties this morning and will continue working today on the event. We are contacting all of the venues to find out if they have made any decisions about their operations that might impact our visitors. Despite all of our preparations for dealing with a major incident during SXSW, nothing could really prepare us for how this feels. As much as we would like to just go home and spend time absorbing the shock of this horrific event, we feel our best use is to continue to operate today. Our thoughts and prayers are with the injured and with the families of the fatalities."
You can follow the latest updates on this over here.
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