3 injured when minivan hits festivalgoers at Pennsylvania celebration
Three people, including a child and a woman in a wheelchair, were injured Monday when a minivan drove on streets closed for a Native American festival in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
City spokesperson Michelle Moyer said the people were hospitalized in unknown condition. The incident happened on the final day of an annual three-day celebration, Kipona Festival, that highlights the region’s Native American roots.
“A women went around and through barriers blocking traffic” for the festival, Moyer said in a statement. “She hit a woman in a wheelchair and a child. One of our public works employees was also injured trying to stop the woman.”
NBC affiliate WGAL of Harrisburg reported that the vehicle went for six blocks before it stopped. It happened along Front Street, Moyer said, where food trucks, vendors and carnival game booths were set up, according to a map of the event.
The driver was taken into custody, Moyer said.
Images from the aftermath of the incident verified by NBC News show a damaged minivan stopped on a block cordoned off for booths that are part of the celebration.
It wasn’t immediately clear why the van drove onto the closed street.
The city said it was the 109th annual Kipona Festival.
A Kipona Festival webpage describes the event: “This annual tradition brings together Native American communities from various tribes to celebrate and showcase their cultures through dance, music, storytelling, crafts, and food.”
Festival organizers did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Bryan Gallion contributed.