At least 10 dead as a truck rams a New Year’s crowd in New Orleans

A deadly car-ramming attack in New Orleans has brought chaos and mourning to the New Year’s Day celebrations in the Louisiana city, with authorities investigating the incident as an act of “terrorism”.

At least 10 people were killed when a Ford pickup truck slammed into the early-morning crowds on Bourbon Street, in the heart of the French Quarter, one of the United States city’s most touristed areas.

A further 35 people were injured in the Wednesday attack, which officials quickly ruled was not an accident.

The pickup truck ultimately crashed, and the driver fired on law enforcement as he attempted to flee. Two officers received bullet wounds, and the suspect was killed in the exchange.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) later identified the suspect as a 42-year-old US citizen named Shamsud-Din Jabbar from the neighbouring state of Texas.