New York terror suspect drove truck into school bus with children on board

Six people were declared dead at the scene and two were pronounced dead later at hospital

The New York terror suspect fled his truck after ramming into a school bus with children on board, according to the NYPD commissioner James P O'Neill.

The 29-year-old suspect drove the rental truck down a busy cycle path near the World Trade Center - hitting cyclists and pedestrians - before crashing into the bus belonging to nearby Stuyvesant High School.

The school said two adults and two children inside the bus “might be a little hurt, but no one is dead.”

After crashing, the driver exited the vehicle holding what later turned out to be imitation firearms, and was shot by police in the stomach. He is now in custody and is being treated in hospital.

A teenage student from the high school told the New York Post: "He came out of one of the cars. He had two guns. He was running around Chambers (Street) and somebody started to chase him. I heard four to six gunshots - everybody starts running."

The aftermath of the New York truck attack (AFP/Getty Images)

It has been reported that the 29-year-old suspect screamed "Allahu Akbar" after the crash.

Six people were declared dead at the scene and two were pronounced dead later at hospital.

Eleven people have been left with serious injuries, but New York police commissioner James O'Neill "there may be more".

The situation unfolded just after 3pm when the southbound truck veered onto a bike path on West Street near Houston Street.

“He entered the bike bath at Houston Street and exited the bike path when he collided with the bus at Chambers street,” O’Neill said.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo called it a “lone wolf” attack and said there was no evidence to suggest it was part of a wider plot.

“This was an act of terror, and a particularly cowardly act of terror aimed at innocent civilians,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said.