Car Plows into Parade Crowd, Injures 60

4 seriously injured in Damascus, Virginia
By Ruth Brown,  Newser Staff
Posted May 18, 2013 4:52 PM CDT
Car Plows into Parade Crowd, Injures 60
Emergency personnel respond to one of the people hit by a car, at right, during the beginning of the Hikers Parade at the Trail Days festival in Damascus, Virginia.   (AP Photo/Bristol Herald Courier, Earl Neikirk)

Up to 60 people have been injured, some critically, after a man drove a car into a crowd during a parade in southwestern Virginia. Three victims were flown to hospital via helicopter, and another 12 to 15 went by ambulance, after being struck while watching the Hikers Parade at a festival celebrating the Appalachian Trail in the small mountain town of Damascus, reports the AP. Four of the victims are considered seriously injured, adds the Bristol Herald Courier.

The identity of the driver, and why he drove into the crowd, are still unknown. Witnesses say he was an elderly man—one who recognized him says he's 80—and came in from a side street, driving into the crowd for more than 100 feet before stopping, Some victims were trapped underneath the car. "He was hitting hikers," said a witness, "I saw hikers just go everywhere." (More Damascus stories.)

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