By Ebi Kesiena
15 people have died following a mass casualty event in New Orleans, city authorities say.
Officials with Nola Ready, the city’s emergency preparedness department, report that a further 30 people are injured.
Wounded people have been transported to a hospital, and public safety partners are on the scene, Nola Ready adds.
Several more were injured after a vehicle drove into a crowd on Bourbon Street in the southern US city of New Orleans.
Two of the injured are police officers, who were shot by the suspect.
The street is famous in New Orleans’ French Quarter and is likely to have been filled with tourists and locals celebrating the New Year.
The street, a well-known nightlife and tourist hotspot, is filled with bars, clubs, and restaurants.
A witness who was on Bourbon Street this morning at the time of the incident has just shared some of the harrowing scenes he saw after a vehicle crashed into a large crowd in New Orleans.
The witness told the BBC: “We had been on and around Bourbon Street since the beginning of the evening.
“When we were in the bar, we didn’t hear shooting or crashes because the music was so loud,” Davis says. People then started running and hiding under tables, he adds, “like it was an active shooter drill”.
Police then held him and a group of people in the bar, and when they were allowed to leave, he says they “were walking past dead and injured bodies all over the street”.
The city of New Orleans, in Louisiana, has long been known for its vibrant cultural offerings.
It was established by the French in 1718, and the original grid of streets designed back then is now known as the French Quarter, which is still the heart of tourism in the city.
Every year, upwards of a million people flock to its famous Mardi Gras carnival and parade in the spring, famous for the strings of colourful beads worn by party-goers.
Historically home to a large Black community, the area is also known as the birthplace of jazz, making it a hit destination for music lovers.
Later on Wednesday, it is scheduled to host a sold-out college American football game to mark New Year’s Day, known as the Sugar Bowl.
But the city has also faced struggles in recent years.
Later this year will mark the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, which struck the city of New Orleans and left about 80% of it underwater. Almost 2,000 people were killed, and one million were displaced in the disaster. The storm destroyed large parts of the city, and it took years to rebuild.
In more recent years, the population has seen a steady decline. Between 2020 and 2023, it saw the steepest drop of any large metropolitan area in America.
