Luttach crash: Car ploughs into crowd of tourists in Italy, killing at least six

11 people were injured when a suspected drunk driver drove into them at high speed

Six German tourists have been killed near a ski resort in Italy after a suspected drunk driver ploughed into their group on Saturday night.

The group of 17 tourists were waiting for a bus at 1.15am in the mountain village of Luttach, near Bruneck, when the car came speeding into them.

According to local newspaper Corriere Del Sella, 11 people were injured in the incident and three are in serious condition.

One victim was rushed to a hospital in Innsbruck, Austria, via helicopter. The group was comprised of 15 Germans and two Italians, all between the ages of 20 and 25.

The Luttach volunteer fire service said in a Facebook post that the six people who died were killed at the scene.

In a press conference on Sunday morning, South Tyrol governor Arno Kompscher told reporters: “We are all shocked. We had wished us all the best for the new year, but now this new year begins with a terrible tragedy.”

The mayor of Luttach called the incident a “sad situation”.

The 28-year-old driver, believed to be a local, reportedly had high blood alcohol levels when police arrived at the scene.​

Luttach is a popular ski resort in Italy’s South Tyrol region, located near the border of Austria.

The largely German-speaking autonomous region of northern Italy, with its ski resorts in the Dolomites and quaint villages around Bolzano, is popular with German tourists.

The accident occurred on the final long weekend of the Christmas and New Year’s holiday in Italy, capped by Epiphany on Monday.

Additional reporting by agencies