Two Festival Goers Dead at SXSW - - 23 Injured - Drunk Driver Kills -

courtesy of CBC.ca

Two people are dead after a drunk driver fleeing arrest allegedly drove through temporary barricades in place for a South by Southwest music festival concert in Austin, Texas, police said.

Around 12:30 a.m. local time, the car hit a man and a woman who were on a moped and several pedestrians on a busy street.

The man and woman, whose names will not be released until next of kin are notified, died at the scene.

People are comforted after being struck by a vehicle in downtown Austin, Texas, during SXSW on Wednesday. Police say 2 people were confirmed dead at the scene. (Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman/The Associated Press)

Twenty-three people were taken to hospital — five of those critically injured, according to police.

An officer working a drunken-driving patrol first tried to stop the driver before the incident. In response, the man drove the car into a gas station nearby and wove through a series of parked cars.

He turned onto Red River Street where he crashed through the SXSW barricade. A police officer standing guard at the festival was almost hit.

There, the driver hit some pedestrians and continued driving the silver Toyota sedan down the street, where he struck more pedestrians and the couple on the moped.

The driver also hit a taxi, Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo​ told reporters, before the man allegedly jumped out of his vehicle and attempted to flee the scene on foot. A police officer responding to the incident shocked him with a stun gun.

The driver of the vehicle has been taken into custody, police said, and the man faces two counts of capital murder. He also faces 23 counts of aggravated assault with a vehicle.

"We owe it to the victims and their families to gather the evidence we need to bring them justice," Acevedo told reporters at a press conference following the incident.

The crash took place near the East 9th Street and Red River Street, and East 10th Street and Red River Street intersections.

In between East 9th and 10th streets on Red River Street is the Mohawk, a bar where Tyler the Creator was performing for the SXSW festival.

SXSW runs from March 7 to 16, and is a celebration of music and film

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/sxsw-car-crash-2-dead-after-crash-near-sxs…