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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.Update June 18: RFE/RL reports the suspect is to be held in detention for two months:
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.
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.

Comment: This wasn't the first time the SPLC has had to retract false allegations. See also: