21-year-old Mohammed Abdul, of McMillan Street, London, has appeared in court on charges of attempted murder after a car was driven into a crowd outside a nightclub in Gravesend, Kent.

Abdul is thought to have smashed into revellers in a Suzuki Vitara at Blake’s, Queen Street, injuring 13 people, KentOnline reports.

18-year-old Gravesend resident Elena Napoliello described how she and a friend were “standing in front of the bar in the marquee, waiting for our coats to be taken to the cloakroom [when] all of a sudden, I saw multiple people falling backwards onto us, and so I was confused as to what was happening.

“Then, I saw the headlights of the car coming towards me and my friend and we got pushed backwards by one of our friends to get us into safety.

“I could see everyone surrounding this 4×4, but there was nowhere for us to go, so we had to hide in the back of the marquee. Everyone was shouting to ‘get down and hide’, which is what we were doing.

“When I could see the car coming towards me, I could see everyone kicking and punching the car trying to stop it and then the next minute I could see the guy on the floor. I didn’t see him very clearly because everyone was surrounding him.”

Detective Chief Inspector David Chewter thanked “the security staff at the nightclub as well as those members of the public who helped” after what he described as “the collision”, and noted that “many people” were injured in “the incident”.

Injuries reported include a dislocated knee, a broken shin bone, and one woman whose pelvis was either shattered or dislocated, according to conflicting reports. Fortunately, none of the injured are thought to be in danger of death.

The attack is not being treated as terror-related.

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