Cops: Drunk Driver Hits Paradegoers in Louisiana

Several people were injured when a vehicle struck revelers at a parade celebrating the Lao New Year on Saturday in rural Louisiana, per the AP. The driver was charged with impaired driving, police said. Video shared on social media showed multiple people on the ground at the annual event in Broussard and New Iberia. The videos showed firefighters tending to one person trapped beneath the car, which wound up in a ditch along the parade route. Around 15 people were hurt, some seriously, according to the Iberia Parish Sheriff's Office.

"Based on the preliminary investigation, this does not appear to be an intentional act," said a spokesperson for the sheriff's office, Rebecca Melancon. The Louisiana State Police said the driver, who is 57 and lives in Jeanerette, appeared impaired when police arrived and later tested positive for a high blood alcohol level. He was charged with impaired, negligent, and careless driving, and with having an open container of alcohol in the vehicle.

The parade is part of a three-day New Year celebration set in the Lanxang Village, a Laotian neighborhood near New Iberia with hundreds of families, and near the Buddhist temple grounds of Wat Thammarattanaram. It attracts thousands each year.