New Orleans, United States:
The festive atmosphere of New Orleans’ Bourbon Street, long an American synonym for indulgence and revelry, was darkened Wednesday as residents and visitors alike reeled from a deadly truck attack on New Year’s crowds. Several square blocks of the main entertainment district were shut down after the attack, with authorities saying a U.S. military veteran drove a pickup truck into pedestrians, killing at least 15 people and leaving a tear in the heart of the city known as the Big Easy. .
“We’re all numb,” Ken Williams, a Creole chef who grew up in New Orleans and moonlights as a candy vendor in the city’s usually raucous French Quarter, told AFP.
“Everyone is shocked by what happened,” the 65-year-old added. “Some people will just try to drink it away – shake off the shock, you know?”
Williams said he was fortunate to get home around 1:30 a.m. Wednesday, about 90 minutes before the massacre began.
Dwayne Perkins, 22, made the decision to stay out late and said he saw the truck speeding down Bourbon Street, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake.
“If the police had done their job last night, this never would have happened,” said Perkins, who lives in New Orleans.
He alerted the police for allowing a private vehicle to enter a pedestrian-only street during festive times.
His coping mechanism in the aftermath? “Getting drunk and drowning out the pain” of the tragedy he witnessed.
The French Quarter is normally teeming with revelers looking to enjoy live music and explore art galleries. It is also home to the city’s riotous nightlife and has become a world-famous center for boisterous partying.
New Year’s Eve was particularly busy as the partying crowd was energized by sports fans ahead of the Sugar Bowl college football game set to begin Wednesday night at the stadium known as the Superdome.
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Lives ‘at stake’
Tens of thousands of fans from the University of Notre Dame and the University of Georgia converged on the city, storming the streets and bars of the French Quarter ahead of the playoff — which has now been postponed until Thursday evening.
Sugar Bowl ticket holder Jill Davenport of Richmond, Virginia, told AFP that, fresh from watching New Year’s fireworks, she and her family had considered a walk to the French Quarter to see live music.
“Honestly, better heads prevailed at 1am” and they headed back to the hotel. “We are very happy that we made this decision,” she says.
“It feels like we’re seeing these tragedies more and more, and it’s scary,” she said.
Davenport, 55, mourned the relatives of the dead, but she also expressed concern for bars and other businesses that rely heavily on tourism.
“It has a lot of economic impact on this city… If these restaurants and bars were to suddenly close, it could mean the world to them.”
Still, bars outside the cordoned blocks where the FBI conducted its investigation attracted customers. Football fans strolled through the streets. An accordionist’s zydeco music brought a nearby alley to life.
A busker who asked not to be named said business had plummeted.
“We should be making money this time of year,” he said. Instead, the crowd has thinned out.
Now he worries for his city, where he could never imagine something like this deadly attack, “never in a million years.”
Williams, the chef, said New Orleans “will have to change” by dramatically ramping up its security operations to allow hosting major events, including Mardi Gras celebrations, Jazz Fest and, on Feb. 9, American football Super Bowl Championship.
“Too many lives are at stake,” he said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)