Public security

Taxi ploughs into pedestrians in Moscow injuring eight

At least eight pedestrians, including some Mexican World Cup fans, were injured after a taxi mounted a crowded pavement in central Moscow.

CCTV footage posted on social media showed the car veer out of a queue of stationary traffic and accelerate into pedestrians before coming to a halt.

The driver then fled, pursued by several passers-by.

Moscow police said the driver was a 28-year-old national of Kyrgyzstan who had been taken into custody.

They released a video of the man being questioned in which he says he had been at the wheel for more than 20 hours when the crash happened and had pressed the accelerator by mistake.

"I wanted to brake, I wanted to let someone through," he says, while visibly upset. "I switched off for a second and hit the accelerator.... then I saw the people."