A baby is feared to be among the victims as six people died and eight were injured when a bin lorry careered out of control and into crowds of Christmas shoppers.
The truck mounted the pavement at speed as it traveled 300 yards and ploughed into pedestrians and knocked down lampposts in Glasgow city centre, witnesses said
The lorry moved at high speed across George Square, which was full of children enjoying an ice rink and a fairground at a Christmas market, before crashing into the Millennium Hotel.
Emergency services said that they feared that the number of fatalities could rise.
Prime Minister David Cameron said he was being fully briefed on the tragedy saying "My thoughts are with the families of those involved and the emergency services".
Shopper Melanie Greig said: "The lorry just lost control, it just went along the pavement knocking people down like pinballs. There was a baby in a buggy, there were two little kids. It was quite horrific.
"People were trying to run out the way, but when something like that comes up behind them how can they? There was noise and bangs and screams."
Findlay Mair, 23, said: 'The screaming just kept going on. Suddenly it was just chaos. Some people were running towards the scene, others were just standing stock still, in shock.
"The people who were hit had no time to take evasive action. They had no chance.
"I saw one girl who had been hit, lying on the ground. She got up, and blood was pouring from her mouth, then she went down again.
"She was young, of student age. She just screamed, and screamed, and then fell down again. She had terrible injuries.
"A woman motorist got out of her car and just stared at what was unfolding and then started sobbing. She was just yelling 'Oh God, oh God'.
"There was Christmas shopping littered everywhere, among the bodies and bits of the vehicle. And there was blood everywhere. Time seemed to stand still. It was a terrible, terrible scene.
"It was difficult to take in. One minute the square was a typical Christmas scene, with people enjoying their Christmas shopping and the next moment it was just carnage.
"A lot of people were standing there, trying to understand what was happening. Then everyone was calling emergency services."
Police said it did not appear to be a deliberate act and confirmed the driver was among those taken to hospital.
Bystanders gave first aid to the injured before emergency services arrived (SWNS).
Student Lewis Irvine, 17, said: "I could see the driver at the wheel. It looked like he was having a fit or something. There were bodies lying on the ground. It was awful."
Another eyewitness, Janey Godley, said it was “like something out of a horror movie”, adding: “The traffic poles in Queen Street were bent like straws as they had been run over.”
Reece Miller, 16, a student from Motherwell who was in Glasgow for Christmas shopping, said: "I'm traumatised.
"What's happened here is a big tragedy. We were having lunch on the corner of the square when we heard a loud bang. The building we were in was shaking.
"I looked through the window. We saw that a lorry had crashed into the side of the building. I think it hit a car and then a number of shoppers. We went out and saw lots of bodies lying on the floor. Most of them were covered by blankets.
"The atmosphere is very tense. At the scene there was a woman lying on the floor, covered by a blanket. Her family were leaning over her grieving."
Joty Chopra, a 21-year-old student, said: "We were having lunch around the corner and heard a loud bang and came running out.
"When we got to the scene there were three people lying on the floor - two of them were in a pool of blood."
The crash and the carnage it caused was witnessed by hundreds of members of the public on one of the busiest shopping days of the year.
There is a “Glasgow Loves Christmas” fair in the square, which is popular with families, and restaurants and shops surround the area.
Members of the public ran to the aid of the injured and some tried to give mouth-to-mouth resuscitation before the emergency services arrived.
The accident happened just over a year after 10 people died in the city centre when a police helicopter crashed into the Clutha Vaults bar.
A triage centre was set up as the square was evacuated and several bodies were covered with sheets on the street. The injured were taken to three hospitals in the city.
Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: "My thoughts are with everyone involved in this tragic incident, and especially with the friends and families of the six people who lost their lives in what is another sad day for Glasgow and Scotland.
Labour leader Ed Miliband tweeted "Terrible news from Glasgow - my thoughts are with all those affected by this horrific accident."
Supt Stewart Carle of Police Scotland said he wanted to reassure people it was a road traffic accident and “nothing more sinister”.
He added: “It's difficult for all the emergency services but particularly for those people who have been in Glasgow today shopping and getting ready for Christmas.
“There will be a lot of distressed people and certainly the city will need to come together round those people that have been traumatised by the incident.”
The incident began at around 2.30pm outside the art gallery after the vehicle turned right out of Ingram Street into Queen Street.
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