UPDATE: The Associated Press have reported that a man and woman who were riding on a moped were killed after being struck by a drunk driver fleeing from arrest and driving through a SXSW street barricade. The driver also injured 23 other people of which five of them critically.
The driver faces two counts of capital murder.
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This is awful news. According to to SPIN magazine’s Twitter account, a car has plowed into a SXSW crowd outside the Mohawk on Red River between 9th and 10th. Two people are reported dead with multiple people critically injured and the vehicle operator is in police custody. Eyewitnesses have reported a grey sedan with a smashed windshield went through a crowd and hit at least 20 people, this was around midnight Austin time. The Austin American-Statesman newspaper quotes a witness who said the crash may have followed a police chase.
One moment I’m photographing a magical show the next, I’m photographing a horrible and sad scene. #sxsw
— Colin Kerrigan (@colinkerrigan) March 13, 2014
Via CBS: The Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Service said that two people had died on scene. There were 23 patients in total. Five were color-coded red, the most serious condition; five were coded yellow and 13 were coded green, the agency said.
The names of the deceased have yet to be released. If you have friends out there, which I’m sure you do, please send them a text or phone call and make sure they’re okay. We’re happy to hear our team at SXSW are all okay, but their spirits are down. This is just terrible news. Please send good vibes and prayers to those affected and to the loved ones of the two dead.
Very sad situation at #sxsw right now http://t.co/6kD6WUrvAr
— BrooklynVegan (@brooklynvegan) March 13, 2014
And just today we were posting about how SXSW ain’t what it used to be. This tragedy is definitely going to change SXSW and hopefully for the better, taking it back to what it was: a place for the music industry and music-lovers to discover new bands and artists from all over the world, not a place to get smashed drunk and drive through a packed and blocked-off street. SXSW needs to go back to being about the music, not the shit show.
This will definitely change the dynamic of #sxsw
— viktoria zerda (@serpyboots) March 13, 2014
Below is a video of the scene that has gone viral.
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Photos below via SPIN magazine’s Twitter.
