Car ploughs into LA crowd leaving dozens injured

Emergency services were called to Santa Monica Boulevard after an ‘unknown vehicle’ struck a crowd near a nightclub.

Up to five people are thought to be in critical condition, while up to ten people were left with serious injuries. Another 10-15 suffered minor injuries, the fire department said.

Most of the victims are women, who were queuing to enter a club, the LA Fire Department captain Adam van Gerpen said.

He said it is thought the driver might have ‘lost consciousness’ inside the vehicle, ploughing into a taco cart before ramming the people.

Dozens of people have been injured after a car rammed into the crowd outside a nightclub (Picture: Citizen.com)

Footage shows multiple people lying on the road near a smashed grey car outside the Vermont Hollywood nightclub, where frightened people took cover.

People can be seen receiving treatment as debris covers the road, and the firefighters were ‘coordinating patient triage and transport.’

The incident happened in the heart of East Hollywood and near the Los Angeles City College, with crowds out enjoying the Friday night.

People were seen running away from the car and into the club, where the emergency services brought more people.

A map shows where the car struck dozens of people in East Hollywood, Los Angeles (Picture: Metro)

Witnesses have claimed shots were fired in the area before the crash, but it has not been confirmed whether this was connected to the incident.

The driver allegedly remained at the scene before he was tackled by security guards.

Captain van Gerpen said: ‘This morning, about 2am, firefighters were dispatched out to a traffic accident. 

The emergency scene in East Hollywood, where multiple people, most of them women, have been injured (Picture: KNN News)

‘On arrival, they found that we had a multi casualty incident with a number of victims on scene. Our firefighters quickly realised we had a large number of patients so we called for additional resources.

‘Apparently there was a vehicle which had somebody that lost consciousness inside the vehicle and drove into a taco cart and then ultimately ran into a large number of people that were outside a club in East Hollywood.

‘Right now we have a total of approximately 31 patients. All of those patients are in the process of being treated and transported to hospital.

‘We have reports that there was a gunshot wound in one of the patients. There was a patient inside the vehicle and they were able to extricate that patient.’

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