Two people, including a six-year-old boy, have died after a truck drove on to a youth football pitch during a game in Wichita, Kansas, injuring 11 others.
The incident happened at the Stryker Sports Complex at about 3.25pm on Saturday, prompting multiple 911 calls to police reporting a vehicle driving through the match.
The boy and a 35-year-old man, both from McPherson, Kansas, were pronounced dead at the scene. Police said they were not related.
Eleven people were taken to hospitals, including five children aged between five and nine. Their injuries ranged from bruising to extremely serious trauma, although officials said they did not believe any were life-threatening.
The driver was identified as a 34-year-old woman from Garden City, Kansas. She stayed at the scene and was taken into custody, with police saying she was co-operating with investigators.
Two juveniles were inside the truck when it entered the field. Authorities have not established whether the incident was deliberate or accidental.
Police Captain Aaron Moses said investigators were trying to determine “how this happened and why it happened”. Police said the woman may have had a child playing at the complex, although that child was not on the pitch where the incident occurred.
Bystanders helped treat the injured before emergency responders arrived. Wichita Police Chief Joe Sullivan praised members of the public who provided medical assistance.
Kansas Youth Soccer described the incident as “devastating”. The city has cancelled all events at the sports complex until further notice and asked anyone with photographs or video of the incident to provide them to investigators.
Wichita Mayor Lily Wu called the tragedy “heartbreaking”, saying families had gathered to watch their children play and could not have imagined what would happen.
