Court Orders Moscow Cab Driver Who Injured Pedestrians Detained

Anarbek Chingiz attends a court hearing on his detention in Moscow on June 18.

A Moscow court has ordered a Kyrgyz taxi driver who drove into pedestrians near the Kremlin, injuring seven, to be held in pretrial detention for two months.

Driver Chingiz Anarbek would appeal the decision, his lawyer said on June 18.

Anarbek's taxi veered onto the sidewalk near Red Square on June 16, striking pedestrians, including two Mexican tourists who were in Moscow for the soccer World Cup, which Russia is hosting.

Anarbek, who is 28, told the court he had mixed up the accelerator and brake pedals because he hadn't slept for 20 hours before the accident.

Anarbek said he understood his guilt and apologized to those he had injured.

A Kremlin spokesman on June 18 voiced relief that nobody died in the accident.

"We breathed a sigh of relief" upon learning that there were no fatalities, Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters. He wished the injured a speedy recovery.

Based on reporting by Reuters, AP, TASS, and Interfax