SXSW, the music and tech festival held in Austin, Texas, has been plunged into crisis after a suspected drunk driver rammed into a crowd at around 70mph. Two have been confirmed dead and many more taken to hospital with life threatening injuries. The car hit crowds at 12.30am local time as they queued outside Mohawk, a venue in downtown Austin.

The two deceased victims were on a moped and died on the scene, while 23 others were taken to hospital. Austin Police Department tweeted that five of those victims are in critical condition.

A suspect has been taken into custody and is being charged with two counts of capital murder and 23 counts of aggravated assault of the vehicle. 

Police said that the suspect had pulled into a petrol station and then took off at high speed the wrong way down a one-way street while evading a police officer. He then crashed through a barricade, narrowly mising an officer on guard.

He hit some of the victims outside The Mohawk, then continued down the street where he struck and killed the two victims on a moped. The suspect finally hit a cab, crashed and attempted to flee the scene before being tasered by a police officer and taken into custody. 

Socrates Villareal, who was outside The Mohawk at the time, took this video of the scene after the incident. Warning: it contains graphic footage. 

Austin police are currently appealing for any witnesses to step forward, especially if they have video or photographic footage of the event. Our thoughts go out to those at SXSW; we hope you're okay.