Everything We Know About the People’s Square Van Crash So Far

At least 18 people have been hospitalized, three with serious injuries, after a van crashed in Shanghai's People's Square earlier this morning.

The incident occured at around 9.15am this morning. Early reports indicate that a van mounted onto a sidewalk and hit pedestrians near exit 7 of the People's Square Metro at the intersection of Nanjing Xi Lu and Xinchang Lu, before crashing just next to the entrance of a Starbucks.  

In a statement, the Shanghai government said that a small fire broke out in the vehicle, but that it was extinguished by firefighters.

This afternoon, police released a statement providing an explanation as to how the incident unfolded (translation via CNN):

At 8:57 a.m. today, a van with a Jiangxi Province license plate was driving eastward from West Nanjing Road. When it reached the intersection with Xinchang Road, the vehicle caught fire and lost control, plowing into the sidewalk. The accident caused the driver and 17 pedestrians to suffer various degrees of injuries. According to the preliminary investigation, the driver surnamed Chen (male, age 40, from Jiangxi Province, an employee with a Shanghai metal product company, with no prior criminal record) was allegedly carrying hazardous material illegally and smoking while driving, which caused the fire. As of now, the injured pedestrians have all been hospitalized with none suffering life-threatening injuries. The cause of the accident is under further investigation.

According to state-run newspaper People's Daily, the van was carrying numerous gas tanks when the crash occurred. Six people were said to have been inside the vehicle at the time of the crash. 

The scene has since been cleared, according to NPR's Shanghai correspondent Rob Schmitz:

The cause of the incident is currently being investigated. It is unknown if there are fatalities at this time.

This story is developing. More updates on this story as we receive it.

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