Washington, 1 January 2025 (dpa/MIA) - At least 10 people have died and 30 were brought to hospitals with injuries after a vehicle drove into a crowd in New Orleans early on New Year's Day, authorities said on Wednesday.

Responders are "currently working a mass casualty incident involving a vehicle that drove into a large crowd on Canal and Bourbon Street," the statement said.

The incident occurred in the French Quarter of the south-eastern US city in the early hours of New Year's Day.

Earlier, broadcaster CBS News reported eyewitnesses said a truck drove into the crowd at high speed on Bourbon Street and that the driver then got out and fired a gun.

A large contingent of emergency services were on the scene, footage from WWLTV showed. A station reporter said the police had numerous restaurants and bars on Bourbon Street cleared.

Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry described the incident on the social media platform X as a "horrific act of violence."

"Please join Sharon and I in praying for all the victims and first responders on scene," he wrote, urging people to avoid the area of the incident.

MIA file photo