Eight people, including a U.S. citizen, have been badly injured after a stolen car ran into a bus stop in Moscow and drove off. The Chevrolet Lanos was later discovered but the driver had fled.

The search for the perpetrator is underway.

On Tuesday morning, the Chevrolet’s owner – a 58-year-old taxi driver – picked up a passenger who asked to take him to a church in western Moscow, website Life.ru writes. When the taxi stopped, the “tall man in his forties” threatening the driver with a knife, kicked him out of the vehicle, and drove off at breakneck speed.

A few moments later, the car hit 16 people at a pedestrian crossing near Moscow State University, MGU, and then ran into a bus stop.

The majority of those injured are students.

Several people have got minor injuries and eight others have been hospitalized. Among them is a 56-year-old woman – a professor of Columbian University – who was on her way to MGU to give a lecture.

The Chevrolet was later found abandoned by a fence on MGU campus.