At least eight people have been killed and a further 11 wounded when a rental van ploughed into a crowd in New York.

The suspect has been named as 29-year-old Sayfullo Saipov from Uzbekistan.

Saipov had been working as an Uber driver in Florida before the attack.

The terrorist was shot in the abdomen by an on-duty police officer during the attack. He was taken to hospital where he is expected to survive.

Five people who were part of. A group.of ten friends from Argentina were victims during the attack.

They had been in New York celebrating the 30th anniversary of their graduation when they were struck down.

The Argentinian foreign ministry confirmed the friends names as Hernan Diego Mendoza, Diego Enrique Angeline, Alejandro Damian Pagnucco, Ariel Erlij, and Hernan Ferruchi.

A sixth man in the group, Martin Ludovico Marro, survived the attack but is in a serious condition in hospital.

The Belgian foreign affairs minister Didier Reynders confirmed that a Belgian national was among those who had been killed.

Two children are amongst those injured, after the rented van hit a school bus during the attack.

New York mayor Bill. De Blasio described the attack as a "particularly cowardly act of terror" that was aimed at "innocent civilians a going about their daily lives".