Twenty-five injured when cab crashes into San Diego crowd

Twenty-five injured when cab crashes into San Diego crowd

2011-02-12 23:01:25 GMT+7 (ICT)

SAN DIEGO (BNO NEWS) -- Twenty-five people were injured on early Saturday morning when a cab driver crashed his vehicle into a crowd in San Diego, emergency officials said.

The accident happened at around 1.54 a.m. local time when a cab driver between 40 and 50 years old was driving southbound on 6th Avenue and Island Avenue. "He drove onto the sidewalk and drove into a crowd of pedestrians that had just exited the Stingaree nightclub," a watch commander at the San Diego Police Department said.

The police official said the cab driver told police that he may have fallen asleep at the wheel, causing him to drive onto the sidewalk. "Alcohol was not a factor in the collision," he added.

A total of 25 people were injured, 23 of whom were transported to a local hospital for further treatment. The most serious injury was believed to be a 20-year-old woman whose lower leg had to be amputated.

After the collision, a crowd of people who had witnessed the accident attacked the cab driver and physically assaulted him. "The crowd got angry with the cab driver and then physically began hitting him and broke the windshield on the cab, a window, and the cab driver sustained a broken nose," the watch commander said.

Security from the Stingaree detained the cab driver and separated the crowd away from him until police arrived. It is not known if the cab driver will face charges.

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