Eyewitnesses of the deadly car attack on a busy New Orleans street have described a bloody scene, like a movie one said.
Warning: Article contains graphic and potentially upsetting content
Jimmy Cothran told Sky’s sister channel NBC: “It was unbelievable, it could only be referenced to a movie.”
The attack is being treated as a terrorist incident with the FBI saying the suspect is dead.
New Orleans latest: Incident called ‘terrorist attack’ as 10 killed after car ploughed into crowd
Having heard gunshots and a “lot of commotion” in the area in the early hours of New Year’s Day, Mr Cothran ducked into a nightclub for safety.
“Within a couple of minutes of walking in, a group of frantic females ran inside, pushing past security and hid under tables,” he said.
At least 10 killed after pick-up truck ploughs through New Year crowd in New Orleans
‘They’re all high’: Rats eat marijuana from police evidence room
New Orleans ‘super fog’ leaves at least seven dead and dozens injured in multiple pile-ups
“Our first thoughts were somebody’s shooting or chasing them.”
He said he ran upstairs in the club to the balcony, where he saw a harrowing scene, with bodies mutilated and people “obviously deceased”.
“We counted eight bodies,” he said, adding that he could see tyre marks on the body of one of the victims.
“It was unbelievable. After they were mowed over, nobody was helping these people. They wouldn’t let us out. I have training, but they just immediately locked us in there.”
Follow our channel and never miss an update
Eventually, people started attending to the bodies, he said.
Mr Cothran said the pick-up truck that carried out the attack came barrelling past at around 70mph and there were only “flimsy” barricades in place along Bourbon Street to stop it.
He said within “two minutes tops” the driver was “long gone” and police officers were chasing him on foot.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Another witness, Kevin Garcia, told US network CNN he saw the truck slamming into people on a footpath and heard gunshots. “A body came flying at me,” he said.
Whit Davis told the network he heard people running and shouting as he was leaving a nightclub.
“When they finally let us out of the club, police waved us where to walk and were telling us to get out of the area fast,” he said. “I saw a few dead bodies they couldn’t even cover up and tons of people receiving first aid.”
Be the first to get Breaking News
Install the Sky News app for free
Alex Birth-Mitchell said he felt lucky to be alive. “It was horrible,” Mr Birth-Mitchell told CNN. “I can’t believe it still.”
He was on Bourbon Street celebrating New Year’s Eve like many others. He was able to skip the queue to the club as he and his friends had wristbands from earlier in the night.
“If we would have been waiting outside, we would be dead, maybe,” he said.
