Canada: a pick-up mows down several pedestrians and leaves two dead and nine injured

A pick-up truck struck several pedestrians Monday, March 13 in the small Canadian town of Amqui, Quebec, killing two and injuring nine, police said

Canada: a pick-up mows down several pedestrians and leaves two dead and nine injured

A pick-up truck struck several pedestrians Monday, March 13 in the small Canadian town of Amqui, Quebec, killing two and injuring nine, police said. A 38-year-old man has been arrested and an investigation is underway to determine the circumstances of the tragedy, including whether it was intentional, Sûreté du Québec spokeswoman Hélène St-Pierre told AFP. "Everything indicates that this is an isolated event. There would be no more danger in the area and there would be only one suspect,” she said.

The tragedy took place shortly after 3 p.m. (7 p.m. GMT) in downtown Amqui, a town of just over 6,000 inhabitants located northeast of Quebec City. Witnesses told local media that a pick-up hit several people on a sidewalk before continuing for almost 500 m, zigzagging and mowing down other people.

The two people who died are a 60-year-old and a 70-year-old, police said. Two of the injured are in serious condition, and some have been transported to a hospital in Quebec. Rescuers found victims scattered along the road and sidewalks on either side of the street.

Media reported that children were among the injured, but police did not confirm this information. According to spokeswoman Hélène St-Pierre, the driver fled the scene but then surrendered to police at a nearby police station.

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"My heart goes out to the citizens of Amqui, Quebec," Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted. "Thinking of all those affected as we await further information on today's tragic events," he added.

In early February, a man deliberately rammed his bus into a day care center near Montreal, killing two four-year-old children and injuring six others, in a "deliberate" act. And in 2018, in Toronto, Canada's largest city, a man drove into a downtown crowd, killing 11 and injuring 16 in the deadliest car-ramming attack in the history of the city. country.