Eight student track athletes from Anaheim High School have been hospitalized with one in a critical condition after being hit by a car at an intersection waiting at a traffic light.
The driver, a 27-year-old male, is under investigation Wednesday night for driving under the influence but no arrest has been made as of yet.
The coach of the high school runners, who are aged between 16 and 17 years old, was following them on a bicycle and was a few feet away when the car, a red Toyota sedan, swerved wildly into where the students were standing near Harbor and North street in Anaheim.Â
‘They (the students) were on the sidewalk, waiting for the light to turn so they could continue their practice run,’ Matt Suter, a spokesperson at the Anaheim Police department, told the broadcaster.
‘We’re still interviewing witnesses to determine what exactly happened and why this occurred. They (students) have varying degrees of injuries.
‘We’re not worried about fatalities right now, but you never know. We are worried about the students that were hit. The coach saw it happen right in front of his eyes, which is devastating.’
Eight high school athletes have been hospitalized, one critical, after being hit by a car
The high school coach was following behind the runners when the car plowed into themÂ
A security camera caught the moment the car swerved across the intersectionÂ
Images from the scene show the red Toyota crumpled in one corner of the intersection with debris strewn across the sidewalk and into the road.
Footage also showed students being loaded onto a stretcher, with one in a neck brace and another bleeding from the arm.Â
Accoutant Brian Saylors witnessed the horror unfold shortly after 3pm, as well as inadvertently recording the moment via the security camera outside of his nearby office.
‘We had our camera from this side of the building,’ he said to ABC. ‘The traffic was normal, it was busy, going back and forth.
‘We noted the car coming from this direction and turned right, right behind it was the car that ended up right in the corner.Â
‘It didn’t slow down, it just turned to the right and into the corner where a bunch of schoolkids were waiting for the signal to change.’
Ashleigh Aitkin, the mayor of Anaheim, said: ‘We are still trying to make sense of what happened with an immediate focus on ensuring all who are hurt are getting the best medical care possible.’
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Horror as car plows into Anaheim high school running team, hospitalizing eight with one critical