Runaway car hits Muslims
Six hurt after Eid prayers
TWO children are fighting for life after a car ploughed into Muslim worshippers.
A woman who had been celebrating Eid with the crowd was arrested.
TWO children were fighting for life last night after a car ploughed into Muslim worshippers – sparking fears of a copy-cat mosque attack.
Armed police and paramedics dashed to a sports centre after a red Nissan Juke hit a crowd.
It happened as people were leaving prayers in Newcastle to mark the Islamic festival of Eid.
Six people were hurt – three seriously – in the incident which had chilling echoes of the rental van attack on Muslim worshippers outside Finsbury Park mosque in north London last week which left one man dead. A 42-year-old woman was arrested at the scene of yesterday’s incident. Last night police said they had no information to suggest it was terror-related but extensive inquiries were on-going.
Eyewitnesses said the driver had been praying with the rest of the crowd before the tragedy happened and it was a “freak accident”.
Brake
Uman Nyanzi said: “She was praying with us just before this all happened.
“She was in the car and she was speaking to someone just seconds before the accident.
“It looked like she pressed the gas instead of the brake and she lost control.”
The injured were taken to hospital from the scene outside the Westgate Sports Centre.
Hundreds of Muslims had just attended Eid prayers to mark the end of Ramadan.
Two of the children were last night in intensive care while an adult was also detained in hospital. ¬ See a video of the aftermath of the incident at dailystar.co.uk