Tragedy at US LGBTQ pride parade: at least one dead after truck crash

At least one person has died after a truck driver ran over two participants in an LGBTQ pride parade this Saturday in the city of Wilton Manors, in the south of the state of Florida, according to the American media.

It was not immediately clear whether this was a deliberate attack.

The incident occurred at the start of the LGBTQ pride commemoration parade in the town of Wilton Manors, near Ft. Lauderdale. The driver was arrested.

The truck was stocked with floats for the parade, but his driver stepped on the accelerator and ran over people, said the middle Local news 10.

At least two men were run over and one died, Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis told the station he was in attendance at the parade.

The truck had actually targeted the car of Democratic MP Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who was in a convertible waiting to join the rally, but narrowly missed its mark, she said.

“It’s a terrorist attack on the LGBT community”, Trantalis told Local 10 New.

“This is exactly what it is. It was deliberate, it was premeditated, and it was directed against a specific person. Fortunately, they did not hit this person, but unfortunately they did hit two other people “.

Local police posted on their social media that due to the “tragic event” the parade was canceled, although they stressed that “there is no danger to the public”.

The driver of the truck told police his foot got caught between the accelerator pedal and the brake pedal, which caused him to lose control of the vehicle, according to reports CBS Miami.

However, security forces have not yet made any official statement that there are any indications that the crash was intentional.

Despite this, Trantalis, told the television channel WSVN that the driver acted as if he were part of the parade because he was on the parade route when the authorities demanded that he leave the scene.

Florida Agriculture Commissioner, Nikki Fried, who was present at the event, wrote on her Twitter account that the driver of the vehicle is now in custody., and conveyed his condolences for what happened.

Similarly, Florida Representative in the House of Representatives Ted Deutch used that same social network to express being “devastated by the horror” seen in the parade. “I’m so sorry, Wilton Manors. I’m so sorry, folks, ”he posted.

(With AFP and Europa Press information)

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