A local person was quoted as saying by the Derby Telegraph, external that they were at a bar close to where the incident had taken place and had come outside because “someone said a load of people had been hit by a car”.
They went on: “Everyone was talking about it and panicking, we know people who were in other bars and thought it might have been them.
“It’s so sad, everyone is so shook up. People have been crying, I just can’t believe something like this has happened.”
Derby Telegraph journalist Oscar Fisher attended the scene at around midnight, noting that the streets had “fallen silent” at a time in the city centre when the streets should be “filled with students and locals enjoying the nightlife”.
He said that in Friar Gate, debris remained scattered across what is “usually one of Derby’s busiest streets” after the incident.
Catherine Atkinson, MP for Derby North, said that she was “deeply shocked” by reports that people had been injured in a “serious incident” in Derby city centre.
“My thoughts are with those injured and I’m grateful to our emergency services,” she wrote in a statement shared via her Facebook page, external.
She urged the public to follow police advice and avoid the area, and to contact police with any relevant information “as soon as possible”.
