New Orleans eyewitnesses describe carnage of attack
People celebrating New Year's Eve on the popular Bourbon Street in New Orleans's French quarter describe seeing bodies that had been run over.
Wednesday 1 January 2025 18:49, UK
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."
New Orleans latest: 'Terrorist attack' kills 10 as car ploughs into crowd
The attack is being investigated as a terrorist incident with the FBI saying the suspect, identified as US citizen Shamsud-Din Jabbar, from Texas, is dead.
The bureau said he was driving a Ford pick-up truck, which appeared to have been rented. It also said an ISIS flag, weapons, and a potential improvised explosive device (IED) were found in the vehicle.
Jabbar was killed in a firefight with police following the attack on Wednesday around 3.15am local time (9.15am UK time) in an area teeming with New Year's revellers, according to the FBI.
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.
"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."
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Eventually, people started attending to the bodies, he said.
Mr Cothran said the pick-up truck that was used in 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.
Truck hit man's friend
Another witness, Zion Parsons, told NOLA.com he and two friends were leaving a Bourbon Street restaurant when he heard a "commotion" and "banging".
He turned his head to see a vehicle "barrelling" on to the pavement towards them. He dodged the vehicle but it struck one of his friends.
"I yell her name, and I turn my head, and... there was just blood," Mr Parsons said. The 18-year-old said he ran after hearing gunshots.
"As you're walking down the street, you can just look and see bodies, just bodies of people, just bleeding, broken bones," he said. "I just ran until I couldn't hear nothing no more."
'Body came flying at me'
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 channel 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."
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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.