Glasgow mourns six killed by runaway truck

Flags are flown at half mast after six pedestrians are killed when an out-of-control rubbish truck ploughs into Christmas shoppers in the heart of Glasgow.

The site of a fatal accident in George Square in Glasgow

A garbage truck has ploughed into a group of pedestrians in Glasgow, killing six people. (AAP)

Flags have flown at half mast above Scottish government buildings to remember six people killed when an out-of-control truck ploughed into Christmas shoppers in Glasgow.

Another 10 people were injured, including the driver, after the rubbish truck swept along a crowded pavement in the city centre on Monday afternoon, knocking down pedestrians "like pinballs", according to one horrified eyewitness.

The Church of Scotland organised a prayer service for the victims on Tuesday morning and opened a book of condolences at St George's Tron church, a short walk from the scene of the tragedy on George Square.

Floral tributes were placed at the scene of the crash which, police said, looked to have been a tragic accident. The dead included five women and one man, police said.

The city was again in mourning just over a year after a police helicopter crashed into a Glasgow bar on November 29, 2013, killing eight people and injuring more than 30 others.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon described Monday's incident as "another sad day for Glasgow and Scotland".

"This morning it's a city with a broken heart but it will get through this as it got through the Clutha (helicopter) tragedy," she told BBC radio.

The local authority rubbish truck veered over a distance of around 300 metres, stopping only when it crashed into a hotel near Queen Street station.

The driver survived and was taken to hospital. Eyewitness reports suggest he was slumped at wheel, raising speculation that he may have had a heart attack.

An investigation was under way to establish exactly what had happened, police said.


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