A car has plowed into a crowd of pedestrians in Ukraine’s second-largest city of Kharkiv, killing at least six people and injuring several others, local officials say. The woman who was driving the car was taken into custody.
The incident happened at about 8:45 p.m. local time on Wednesday when an SUV struck a car at an intersection in the city’s center, causing the SUV to mount a sidewalk and plow into a group of pedestrians who were waiting to cross the street.
Ukraine’s Interior Ministry confirmed that at least 6 people were killed and 5 others were injured, including one who remains in a critical condition. Footage from the scene showed several bodies on the sidewalk and a heavily damaged SUV on the street nearby.
Anton Gerashchenko, an advisor to the interior minister, said the 20-year-old woman who drove the SUV is believed to have jumped a red light before the crash. The woman was detained at the scene and investigators were checking whether alcohol or drugs may have played a role in the crash.
“I can’t bear the fact that because of the criminal stupidity of the driver, who violated the rules of the road, so many good people have died,” Gerashchenko said.
The woman was detained on a charge which carries a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, according to a statement from the interior ministry. “She will also have to live her entire life with the understanding that her actions have led to the deaths of six innocent people,” Gerashchenko said.
A video which was posted on YouTube in December 2016 showed the same car driving through a red light at an intersection covered in snow. It was not immediately known whether the woman was behind the wheel at the time. Gerashchenko said the vehicle was owned by the woman’s father.
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