RTSat, 16 Jun 2018 21:53 UTC
A Moscow taxi driver lost control of his car and drove his vehicle onto a crowded sidewalk on Saturday afternoon. At least seven people were injured, including two Mexican nationals, who had come to Russia for the World Cup.
The traffic accident occurred on Ilyinka street located close to Red Square on Saturday, when
the driver suddenly accelerated, hit the pedestrians on the sidewalk and crashed into a road sign.
"According to preliminary data, the crash occurred when the driver lost control of the car," the police said in a statement. A criminal investigation into the incident was launched, the police added later.
Footage from the scene shows the driver fleeing angry pedestrians immediately after the incident. It remained unclear, whether people managed to snatch him or if police got him first.
The driver of the licensed cab, who was arrested by the police, turned out to have
Kyrgyz driving license.
Seven people were injured according to police. One woman has reportedly received medium injuries, while all the other pedestrians were injured mildly. Photos of the car, posted by the traffic authority, showed little damage and did not suggest high-speed impact.
Two women, both citizens of Mexico, were caught up in the incident, receiving slight injuries, the Embassy said.
Comment: The Russian government obviously does NOT want this blown up into a 'terror attack' during the World Cup, so it's playing the incident down.
However, it's pretty clear that that taxi deliberately sped up and steered into the group of pedestrians on the street.
The driver did nevertheless seem genuinely surprised when he got out of the car and fled. Was it perhaps remotely hijacked? Indeed, then, the driver may have
literally "lost control of the car..."
Update: RFE/RL
reports:
Moscow police say a taxi driver whose car plowed into pedestrians and injured soccer fans near Red Square reported that he fell asleep and mixed up his brake and gas pedals.
Police made the statement on June 17, after releasing a video in which the driver, who was identified as being Kyrgyz, said he had dozed off after driving for 20 hours straight and that he wasn't drunk.
It was impossible to determine whether the man had been pressured to speak.
The authorities later said he was identified from his license as Kyrgyz national Anarbek Chingiz, 28, from the town of Kochkor-Ata near Kyrgyzstan's border with Uzbekistan.
Video of the June 16 incident posted on social media showed the car veering out of standstill traffic and accelerating onto the sidewalk, mowing down pedestrians. He then flees the car as bystanders attempt to apprehend him.
Moscow city health officials said eight people were injured in all. Three remained hospitalized in satisfactory condition on June 17, health officials said.
Update June 18: RFE/RL
reports the suspect is to be held in detention for two months:
A Moscow court has ordered a Kyrgyz taxi driver who drove into pedestrians near the Kremlin, injuring seven, to be held in pretrial detention for two months.
Driver Chingiz Anarbek would appeal the decision, his lawyer said on June 18.
[...]
Anarbek said he understood his guilt and apologized to those he had injured.
A Kremlin spokesman on June 18 voiced relief that nobody died in the accident.
"We breathed a sigh of relief" upon learning that there were no fatalities, Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters. He wished the injured a speedy recovery.
Given the fact, that most computer systems can, and possibly be hacked, it is not a possibility, it is a probability, for those with an agenda, given the "right" circumstances.
Why not in a car. I think that cyber security was on the agenda of one of the recent meetings of world security, hosted in Russia, I think.
From the Ed's Comment
The driver did nevertheless seem genuinely surprised when he got out of the car and fled. Was it perhaps remotely hijacked? Indeed, then, the driver may have literally "lost control of the car..."