Breaking: Tragedy strikes on New Year’s Day as 10 dead, 36 injured in attack

At least 10 people have been killed and 36 injured in a horror terrorist attack on New Year’s Day revellers in New Orleans.

A man in an SUV drove into a crowd on New Orleans’ famous Canal and Bourbon Street before getting out of the car and firing on civilians and police officers, according to local authorities.

Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick said the man driving the was “hell-bent on creating the carnage and damage he did” and had driven deliberately into the crowd before opening fire. An improvised explosive device has also been found at the scene.

New Orleans government agency NOLA Ready said injured people had been taken to hospital and earlier warned people to “get yourself away from the area”. The incident has now been declared as a terror attack.

– Explosive device found

Alethea Duncan, an assistant special agent in charge of the FBI’s New Orleans field office, said officials were investigating the discovery of at least one suspected improvised explosive device at the scene.

– Everything we know so far as armed driver ploughs into revellers killing 10

Stunned eyewitnesses said an SUV drove into partygoers in Bourbon Street, New Orleans, at around on Wednesday before the driver emerged from the vehicle and began shooting. Police and ambulances then raced to the scene.

The road, which is located in the historic French Quarter and draws tourists from around the world to its bars and restaurants, was packed with revellers who had gathered to mark the start of the New Year.

The investigation into the attack will now be handled by the FBI, police said.