A 66-year-old man drove a Land Rover through a sidewalk full of people on Kyiv’s central Independence Square, killing two and injuring at least three.
The man sped from the street onto the sidewalk, moving toward Khreshchatyk Street. Some people managed to dodge the car, but it eventually crashed a bus stop, ran over at least five people and then smashed into four cars, which were stuck in a traffic jam along Khreshchatyk.
The deadly accident occurred at about 4 p.m. on Oct. 30, according to the police. The place of the accident is now cordoned off. The three injured have been taken to the hospital.
Posted by Патрульна поліція Києва on Friday, October 30, 2020
The police administered a breathalyzer test to the driver and concluded that the man was sober.
According to Deputy Interior Minister Anton Herashchenko, the driver’s name is Yuriy Nazarenko and he is a former state official lustrated in 2014 — he was the collegial head of the Stock market Infrastructure Development Agency of Ukraine. Nazarenko hasn’t been a public figure since 2014.
Nazarenko was unconscious when he lost control of his car and regained consciousness only after his car stopped, Herashchenko wrote on his Facebook page. According to its license plate, Nazarenko’s car was registered in Kyiv.
Herashchenko also said Nazarenko had recently undergone heart surgery.
The National Police are investigating the crash. After that, a court will determine Nazarenko’s liability for “allowing the death of two absolutely innocent pedestrians” and injuring others, Herashchenko said.
