Story highlights Student tells local station other band members went under SUV

Six of the injured are middle school students; 6 are high school students

(CNN) Twelve Alabama students were injured Tuesday when a Ford Expedition taking part in a Mardi Gras parade plowed into a marching band ahead of it, officials said.

Three students are in critical condition but stable, Gulf Shores city spokesman Grant Brown said. The victims' ages range from 12 to 17.

Brown said a 73-year-old man was driving the SUV, which accelerated before it hit the Gulf Shores High School marching band. It was not immediately clear why the driver accelerated, but authorities do not believe the crash was intentional.

"Every indication is that it was a tragic accident," police Chief Ed Delmore said.

Emergency crews respond to the scene of the parade, which was canceled.

Senior Jeremy Koonce told CNN affiliate WPMI that he was in the section of woodwind players that was hit, but someone pushed him out of the way.

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