What We Know About The Victims Of The New York Attack

NEW YORK ― At least eight people were killed and 11 injured when a man drove a rented truck down a bike path in lower Manhattan on Tuesday.

Six of the people killed were confirmed to be foreign nationals. Five were from Argentina and one was from Belgium, according to those countries’ foreign ministries.

Two Americans were killed in the attack, said Daniel Nigro, commissioner of the New York City Fire Department, at a press conference Wednesday. The New York Police Department identified them as Darren Drake, 32, of New Jersey and Nicholas Cleves, 23, of New York.

Nine people, five of them “seriously injured,” remained in local hospitals as of Wednesday morning, Nigro said.

“This was a heinous attack,” he said. “Our prayers are with the families of those who died and those who remain in the hospital.”

Argentina’s ministry of foreign affairs identified five victims as Diego Angelini, Ariel Erlij, Hernán Ferruchi, Hernán Mendoza and Alejandro Pagnucco. They were all from the city of Rosario and were in New York to celebrate the 30th anniversary of their high school graduation.

Ann-Laure Decadt, a Belgian mother of two, was riding along the bike path when she was struck and killed by the truck, said Francesco Vanderjeugd, mayor of the Belgian town of Staden.

“This loss is unbearable and impossible to grasp,” Alexander Naessens, her husband, said in a statement.

Here’s what we know so far about those killed:

Three other Belgians ― a mother, father and their son ― were also injured. The mother and father are in critical condition, Belgian news outlets reported.

The number of Belgians affected in the attack may be due to the fact that it’s a holiday week for many schools in Belgium. New York is a popular vacation destination for many Belgians this time of year.

A German national was also injured in the attack, the German foreign ministry confirmed to HuffPost.

Martin Marro, who reportedly lives in Newton, Massachusetts, and was one of the Argentine classmates visiting New York for the reunion, is recovering from his injuries at Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan. Marro works as a biomedical researcher, according to The Associated Press.

Argentine President Mauricio Macri said he was “profoundly moved” by the loss of his fellow citizens.

“We place ourselves at the disposition of the families of the Argentinian victims,” Macri tweeted Tuesday.

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Jorge Faurie, Argentina’s foreign affairs minister, expressed his condolences on Twitter late Tuesday, speaking of “this moment of profound and inexplicable pain to relatives and friends of our compatriots who died in New York.”

Authorities identified the suspect in custody as 29-year-old Uzbek immigrant Sayfullo Habibullaevic Saipov. Officials said Wednesday that he acted in the name of the self-described Islamic State and had been planning the attack for several weeks.

This story has been updated with information about Belgians injured in the attack.

Lydia O’Connor contributed reporting.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.