Ten people were killed and 30 others injured when a vehicle drove into a crowd in New Orleans, according to city officials.
New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell called the incident in the city’s popular Bourbon Street area a “terrorist attack”.
The FBI is investigating what happened.
Alethea Duncan, an assistant special agent in charge of the FBI’s New Orleans field office, said officials are examining at least one suspected improvised explosive device discovered at the scene.
Earlier, the New Orleans Police Department said they were responding to a mass casualty incident that included fatalities.
The city’s emergency preparedness agency, Nola Ready, advised people to stay away from the area.
It said the injured had been taken to five local hospitals.
The incident happened at 3.15am local time, towards the end of New Year celebrations in the US and hours before kick-off in the AllState Bowl, a college football quarter-final held in New Orleans’ Caesars Superdome, with thousands expected to be in attendance.
Earlier this week, the police department said security would be beefed up ahead of New Year’s Day celebrations.
It said it would be staffed at 100% capacity with 300 officers from partner agencies and a strong presence of marked and unmarked vehicles.
