Marching band hit by SUV; 12 injured

GULF SHORES, Ala. — A sport utility vehicle plowed into a high school band at a Mardi Gras parade Tuesday morning in Gulf Shores, injuring 12 students, including four who are in critical condition.

A witness described a chaotic scene shortly after the parade began, when the driver of a white Ford SUV rolled into the Gulf Shores High School band, flinging instruments and students to the ground and coming to a stop with some students still pinned under the vehicle.

The driver, whose name was not released, was identified by a city spokesman as a 73- year- old man from Fairhope, Ala., about 30 miles away. After the accident, the driver stopped and got out.

The accident occurred shortly after the city’s 39th annual parade started at 10 a. m. City spokesman Grant Brown said it appeared that the SUV driver lost control and then accelerated into the marchers.

All 12 students, whose ages range from 12 to 17, were taken to hospitals. One student was later flown by ambulance to a hospital in Mobile.

The driver stayed at the scene and was cooperating with the authorities, Brown said at a news conference Tuesday afternoon. Alcohol and drugs were not thought to be involved, Brown said.