- A police spokesman said the driver was a 33-year-old Polish citizen
A speeding car drove into a pedestrian crossing in the city of Szczecin in northwestern Poland, injuring at least 19 people including three children.
According to preliminary findings, the car drove into the crowd on Friday in downtown Szczecin before crashing into three other vehicles.
The collision occurred at a busy intersection at the start of the rush hour, at around 4pm local time.
It took place at Rodla Square, beside a tram stop, local media reports.
‘The person who caused the accident has been detained,’ governor Adam Rudawski told reporters, without providing additional details.
Police spokesman Pawel Pankau said the driver was a 33-year-old Szczecin resident, adding: ‘This was not a terrorist act.’
The scene of the incident. According to preliminary findings, the speeding car drove into the crowd of pedestrians in downtown Szczecin, northwestern Poland, before crashing into three other vehicles
A video was posted on X purporting to show the injured after the incident in Szczecin, a city near the German border. People can be seen lying on the pavement, some in twisted positions and being cared for by their loved ones
The driver fled at Rodla Square in the city centre, before crashing the car several streets away and fleeing again, firefighter Tomasz Kubiak told Polish national broadcaster TVP.
Pankau said there was no immediate indication that the suspect had been drinking alcohol or consuming drugs.
Early investigations into the incident ‘showed that this was a person who has been undergoing psychiatric treatment for the past four years,’ police deputy superintendent Marek Jaszczan told reporters.
One of the witnesses told TVP that the car involved was a burgundy Ford.
A video was posted on X purporting to show the injured following the incident, with people lying on the pavement, some in twisted positions and being cared for by their loved ones.
Other footage shows emergency crews providing support to people lying on the road and on the tramlines.
Images circulating on social media appear to show at least three heavily damaged cars crumpled together at the scene. Another shows a driver in a burgundy car that has crashed into the front of a vehicle.
Several ambulances were also pictured at the pedestrian crossing, with some people being loaded onto stretchers and onlookers still present at the scene.
Rudawski said that all of the injured have now been taken to hospitals.