SIX people have been killed and seven others injured after a driver allegedly rammed into a crowd at a festival.

Two eight-month-old babies were reportedly among the injured as images from the scene show a smashed-up white Toyota surrounded by police.

It’s thought the driver ‘apparently lost control’ and ran over people near the Caupolicán fair

Police have arrested the driver who was a petty officer in the Chilean Navy

The vehicle mounted the pavement at a fair in the coastal city of Viña del Mar, Chile.

The driver was arrested and has been identified as an off duty petty officer for the Chilean Navy.

He is thought to have “lost control” and ran over several people near the popular Caupolicán fair, around 74 miles west of Santiago, according to Carabineros Colonel Jorge Guaita.

Footage circulating on social media from a residential security camera appears to capture the moment the car plunges into the stalls.

Colonel Guaita said: “There are six people dead at this time.

“And we have seven people injured, none in life-threatening condition, fortunately.”

Witness statements from people who saw the crash say the car was initially travelling in the correct direction of traffic but at high speed.

But the white Toyota suddenly mounted the sidewalk and spun around as it collided with the stalls and pedestrians.

Six people have been killed and seven others injured

It’s believed most of those who were killed were stall vendors

The car was only halted when it hit a bus stop.

Otherwise, it might have continued forward and caused even more damage, Guaita said.

Early police reports indicate the vehicle was speeding on a road near the fairgrounds, according to Spanish newspaper El Mundo.

Photographs of the wreckage show a white car with part of the bonnet destroyed and its windshield shattered.

Surrounding it are pieces of clothing, cardboard boxes and fairground merchandise.

Officials at Gustavo Fricke Hospital said those injured include two babies who were admitted with various traumatic injuries that were not life-threatening.

Police, firefighters and paramedics treated numerous people at the scene.

Denise Cataldo, the hospital’s deputy director, said: “At this stage of the evaluation, they are stable and out of life-threatening danger, but of course they are still awaiting the completion of all the examinations required in these cases.”

The presidential delegate of Valparaíso, Manuel Millones Chirino, said that according to the preliminary police reports, the man was not “under the influence of alcohol” and probably lost control “because of the drizzle [rain]”.

He said the Caupolicán market is in the Gómez Carreño neighbourhood and has a section for street stalls, another for fruit and vegetables and another for general merchandise.

While the identities of those who died have not yet been confirmed, it is thought most of them were stall vendors, according to initial testimonies, Millones said.

A press statement from the Chilean Navy said the driver was “a member of the institution, who was off duty and driving a private vehicle.”

He is a corporal in the Marine Corps, according to the Ministry of Defence.

It said it deeply regrets “the irreparable loss of human lives caused by this tragedy” and added it was cooperating with the investigation to clarify “the circumstances of the accident.”

President José Antonio Kast, posting on X, said: “The tragedy in Viña del Mar has plunged the entire country into mourning.”

He also expressed his condolences to the victims’ families.

He added: “All state institutions are working to assist those affected and to clearly establish responsibility for this painful event.”

Legal and psychological support is being given to those involved in the tragedy.

Source: https://www.the-sun.com/news/16681263/driver-rams-crowd-festival-dead-injured/