Milan - Six German tourists were killed on
Sunday when a suspected drunk driver crashed his car into a
group of people in a town in northern Italy, police said.
Eleven others were injured, some seriously, during the early
hours in the small town of Luttach in South Tyrol, known as
Lutago in Italian, a police spokesman said.
The 27-year-old driver of the car, a German-made coupe,
failed a breath test for alcohol, registering more than four
times the maximum level, the spokesman said. He was arrested on
suspicion of vehicular manslaughter.
According to the website of Italian daily Corriere della
Sera, when told in hospital of the scale of the incident the
driver said he wanted to commit suicide.
Media gather near at the place where a car had ploughed into a group of people in Luttach, near Bruneck in the northern region South Tirol, Italy. Picture: Helmut Moling/AP
The victims, all in their early 20s, were on a group skiing
holiday and were mostly from the northwest German state of
North-Rhine Westphalia, state premier Armin Laschet told a news
conference.
"People in our country are thinking and praying for the
victims and their families," Laschet said.
The tourists were close to a parked bus that had brought
them back from a night out when the car crashed into them,
sending bodies flying into the air.
A candle and a commemoration letter placed at the at the scene where a car ploughed into a group of people in Luttach, near Bruneck in the northern region South Tirol, Italy. The commemoration letter reads: "We are stunned and shocked that our dear young German friends have been torn from life. The suffering of the many injured and all relatives makes us deeply concerned. You should know that many people are connected in grief to you. With silent greetings". Picture: Helmut Moling/AP
"It was like a scene from a battlefield," one fireman told
local press.
Around 160 people from various emergency services were
involved in the rescue operation.
General view of the street where a car ploughed into a group of people in Luttach, near Bruneck in the northern region South Tirol, Italy. Picture: Helmut Moling/AP
"The new year unfortunately has started with a huge
tragedy," said the governor of Alto Adige, Arno Kompatscher.
Media gather near a police car at the place where a car had ploughed into a group of people in Luttach, Italy, killing at least six people and injuring eleven. Picture: Helmut Moling/AP
Late on Sunday four of the injured remained in a serious
condition, the police spokesman said. But he added around half
of the tourists caught up in the incident had already left to
return home.