SXSW (South by Southwest), the annual Austin-based festival that welcomes and showcases musical acts, film screenings, and interactive features, was met with sudden tragedy early this morning when a drunk motorist crashed through a partition and slammed into a crowd gathered outside of a nightclub; striking and killing a bike rider and a woman on a moped, also injuring almost two dozen more.

Early Thursday, around 12:30 a.m., an intoxicated driver collided into a congregation, which resulted in two fatalities, 23 people injured -- five in critical condition, according to Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo. 
Prior to the incident, the man was driving the wrong way down a one-way street. When authorities attempted to stop the man, he sped off, almost hitting a police officer and then wheeled through barricades into the unsuspecting crowd. His car marked victim after victim, and then he crashed into a taxi. As the vehicle came to a halt, the man attempted to flee the scene on foot, but was taken down by a police officer, who shocked him with a stun gun and then took him into custody.

"It looked like something out of a movie," said Russ Barone, who was at the festival. "A few people lying on the street ... with their friends around them trying to get them up, trying to get them back to life. Hopefully, they are."

Eight people remain hospitalized; two people are in critical condition with threatening head injuries and three others are in serious condition. The yet-to-be-named driver faces two counts of capital murder and multiple counts of aggravated assault with a vehicle. Dr. Christopher Ziebell, the emergency department director at the University Medical Center-Brackenridge stated that the driver was treated for minor injuries and turned over to police.

"The most critical patients I have a great deal of concern for," Ziebell said. "We are going to do our best for them, but these are some of the worst injuries that we see and not everybody with these kinds of injuries is going to survive."

The Travis County paramedics are being applauded for their quick response to an incident that could have been much more unfortunate.

Pablo Vázquez, Argentinian football striker, who currently plays for Gimnasia y Esgrima de Jujuy of the Primera B Nacional, was present at the enjoyable-turned-violent event.

"The car barely missed me ... I was less than a foot away," Vázquez told CNN's New Day. "I saw some folks die."

Videos and photo have been posted to social media showing blood wetting the streets as sprawled out individuals cried out into the night. Some videos show victims receiving CPR. Acevedo insists that these videos be turned over to authorities.

According to Fox News, the numbers of injured bystanders could have been much higher, considering that more partygoers filled the streets just moments before; emptied only because officials cleared an area to make way for a fire lane.

March 7-16 are the dates for the annual conference that beckons tens of thousands to Austin each year. Adam Savage, Austin Kleon, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Anne Wojcicki, Adam Savage and Chelsea are making appearance as Keynote speakers. Also featured are countless premiere events, which offers creative opportunities and programming.