The authorities in Mexico said they had begun an investigation after a person drove a car through a crowd and injured at least 17 people on Wednesday night at a celebration of a World Cup victory by the Mexican national team.
The episode took place at about 10 p.m. in a popular tourist area of Cabo San Lucas, a resort city in the state of Baja California Sur, the state attorney general’s office said.
Seventeen people were being treated for injuries at local hospitals, Alberto Rentería Santana, the secretary general of the Los Cabos City Council, said on social media. The health authorities said that one person was in critical condition.
The incident occurred “during a massive gathering of citizens” in the Centro neighborhood after Mexico’s men’s national soccer team beat the Czech Republic, the General Directorate of Public Security of Los Cabos said in a statement on social media.
The driver, “upon finding themselves surrounded by people who were blocking the way and exerting physical pressure on their vehicle, executed a sudden acceleration maneuver, causing several pedestrians to be struck,” the statement said.
It added that the driver was apprehended at the scene and taken to the hospital, and then handed over to the authorities.
Several videos posted on social media and verified by The New York Times show a black sedan ramming into a large group of people outside a strip of bars near the city’s marina. People can be heard screaming and blowing air horns, while others are seen shaking and hitting the vehicle as it repeatedly accelerates into the crowd.
The vehicle then speeds through the people, hitting several of them before crashing into a row of bollards. One person in a Mexico jersey is seen lying motionless and bloodied on a nearby curb.
The incident took place amid celebrations that drew massive, euphoric crowds into streets across the country. In Mexico City, for instance, 800,000 fans poured onto Paseo de la Reforma Avenue, one of the capital’s main thoroughfares, to celebrate the team’s victory despite heavy rain.
After past victories, fans have climbed onto and rocked everything from public buses to police vehicles as part of the revelry, in a common ritual that has emerged in Mexico during this World Cup.
There have also been other instances of cars driving into crowds during the celebrations, but the episode in Los Cabos appears to have caused the highest number of injuries. In Chihuahua state in northern Mexico, three fans were injured last week after a pickup truck rammed through a small crowd that surrounded and rocked the vehicle.
The Mexican Football Federation said on social media that it “deeply regrets” the incident, and called on the authorities to “clarify what happened and determine the corresponding responsibilities.”
