At least eight persons were killed in New York on Tuesday after a rented white pick-up van drove down a bike path along the Hudson River in Manhattan in what United States authorities described as a lone wolf terror attack.

The Commissioner of the New York Police Department (NYPD), James O’neil said the 29-year-old suspect who was later identified by law enforcement officials as Sayfullo Saipov from Uzbekistan was shot in the stomach and taken into custody after brandishing what appeared to be a pellet gun.

O’neil said Saipov had hit a school bus, injuring two children and two adults before he got out of the van shouting “allahu akbar” and added that the initial statements he made to the police were consistent with a terrorist attack.

Bill de Bladio, the Mayor of New York while describing the attack as a ‘particularly cowardly act of terror’ told the media during a press briefing that the information at his disposal has confirmed the death of eight persons and several others injured.

He said: “Based on the information we have at this moment, this act was an act of terror and a particularly cowardly act of terror. We know of eight innocent people who have lost their lives and a dozen more injured.”

President Donald Trump has also through a tweet said the attack came from a very sick and deranged person and affirmed the resolve of the US not to allow the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) return or enter the country after they have been defeated in the Middle East and elsewhere.