Car crash into sea of ​​people in the US through witness accounts

Witnesses recounted the chaotic scene of a car crashing into a "sea of ​​people" of protesters in Charlottesville, Virginia, USA, on August 12.

The moment a car drove into a crowd in Charlottesville.

Matt Korbon, 22, a student at the University of Virginia, said a few hundred counter-protesters were marching when they "all of a sudden heard a loud screech of tires." A silver sedan came out of nowhere and crashed into another car, then quickly reversed, running over the "sea of ​​people." The scene was the site of a "Unite the Right" rally organized by white supremacists and other right-wing groups, Usa Today reported.

Brennan Gilmore, who was at the scene, captured the moment the car plowed into the crowd on Water and Fourth streets in Charlottesville, Virginia. In the video, the car can be seen plowing into the crowd at high speed. The front end of the car and windshield were damaged after the impact.

"He slowed down, identified the crowd, and then hit the gas. People were thrown into the air," Gilmore said. "We all started running. He backed up, and I thought he might hit the crowd again." Gilmore called the crash an act of "terrorism." He shared the video with police and the media.

Many people were thrown into the air when the car rushed at high speed. Photo: AP.

Jeremiah Knupp, a photographer for the Staunton News, witnessed the incident from a parking lot not far from the scene. He estimated the car was traveling at about 30 mph.

Police have arrested a suspect in the incident. Authorities identified him as James Alex Fields Jr., 20, of Maumee, Ohio. He has been charged with murder and malicious wounding. In addition to one person killed, 19 people were injured in the crash.

Portrait of suspect James Alex Fields Jr. Photo: NBC.

That same afternoon, a helicopter crashed in a suburban area of ​​the city, killing two people. According to police, the plane was on a mission to support security forces monitoring a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville.

Charlottesville is under a state of emergency after hundreds of people from both sides of the white supremacist march and those against it clashed on the morning of August 12. Local authorities had to mobilize police to protect, set up barricades, and use tear gas to stabilize the situation, but were still unable to restrain the extremist crowd.

According to VNE