Five friends from Argentina, who were in New York City for a high school reunion, were among those killed in a truck attack near the World Trade Center Tuesday.
Police are investigating after eight people were killed and 11 others injured when a man in a truck plowed into cyclists and pedestrians on a bike path in Manhattan.
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The suspect has been identified as Sayfullo Saipov, 29, and reported to be an immigrant from Uzbekistan. He was shot in the abdomen by an officer after he crashed the vehicle. He underwent surgery and remains in hospital.
On Wednesday, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said a note found at the scene referenced the Islamic State and that the suspect had been radicalized in the U.S.
What we know about the victims
5 Argentinians
Five of the victims were among 10 friends celebrating the anniversary of their 1987 graduation from the Polytechnic School in Argentina, with a U.S. trip to New York and Boston, where their classmate lives.
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A sixth Argentine national who was part of the group was injured during the attack. He was taken to hospital but is recovering from his injuries.
The group had rented bicycles and walked around lower Manhattan when they were hit, La Nación reported.
Argentina’s consul in New York told La Capital in Rosario that the survivors in the Argentine group are in a state of shock. Only days earlier, before flying to the U.S., they had posed for a group photo, all of them wearing T-shirts with the word “Libre,” or Free.
The trip was paid for by Erlij, the chief executive of Ivanar, an Argentine steel products manufacturing company, according to Argentina’s La Nacion newspaper. Several other victims were architects.
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“Four died at the scene and another young man died when he was taken away by an ambulance,” Jose Nunez, a national deputy who was a friend of several of the men, told La Nacion.
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The Argentine foreign ministry identified them as Ariel Erlij, Hernan Diego Mendoza, Diego Enrique Angelini, Alejandro Damian Pagnucco, and Hernan Ferruchi. In addition, it said Martin Ludovico Marro was recovering from injuries at Manhattan’s Presbyterian Hospital.
On Twitter, Argentine President Mauricio Macri said he was “(d)eeply moved by the tragic deaths this afternoon in NY. We put ourselves at the disposition of the families of the Argentinian victims.”
Ann-Laure Decadt, Belgian national
A Belgian national was also one of the eight people killed in the attack, Belgium’s foreign minister said. Three other people from Belgium were injured.
Ann-Laure Decadt, 31, the mother of two young sons, died in the attack. Decadt was on a trip with her sister and mother in New York City.
Belgian’s deputy prime minister tweeted Tuesday evening, saying he was “deeply saddened to announce a Belgian victim in #Manhattan – I express my condolences.”
2 Americans
Darren Drake, 32, a project manager from New Millford, New Jersey, and Nicholas Cleves, 23, from NYC were also killed in the attack.
Drake’s father Jimmy confirmed the news to reporters outside his home, where he said Drake loved cycling.
“While other people would take cigarette or coffee breaks, he would go out and ride the bike for 15 or 20 minutes,” he said, according to NJ.com.
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So far there have been no reports of any Canadians injured in the incident, according to Global Affairs.
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With files from the Associated Press