Taxi ploughs into crowd of "World Cup fans" in Moscow leaving many injured

A taxi ploughed into a crowd made up of World Cup fans in Central Moscow, leaving eight of them injured.

According to Russian media, the crowd was made up of Mexican fans waiting to watch their team play Germany tomorrow. They were standing on a pavement near Red Square, when the taxi crashed into their midst. The incident happened on Ilinka Street, about 650ft from the Red Square and Moscow’s famous GUM shopping arcade.

Two Mexican citizens, both women, were injured, the Mexican embassy in Moscow said. No one is reported to have died in the incident.

Among the others injured were a Ukrainian and two Russian citizens, according to TASS news agency.

Video footage showed the yellow Hyundai taxi pull sharply out of a line of stationery traffic, accelerate and mount the narrow pavement, which was packed with pedestrians.

The vehicle drove for about 10 metres along the pavement, bowling over pedestrians, with some of them being carried along on the bonnet of the car.

The taxi came to a partial halt after hitting a traffic sign. The driver then ran away from the car, but was tackled by bystanders.

The driver, in custody, insisted he had not driven into the crowd on purpose, according to footage published on the Moscow police website.Mexican supporters gearing up to watch their nation's opening match against World Champions Germany today were among those hurt.