New London, Conn. ? An 89-year-old man driving through a crowd at a summer festival panicked after striking one pedestrian and lurched his station wagon through the throng, injuring 27 people, city officials and witnesses said.

Ned Lamont, who is challenging three-term incumbent Sen. Joe Lieberman in the Aug. 8 Democratic primary, and several campaign workers were among those in the crowd.

Lamont, who was campaigning at the festival, was not injured, but three staffers were treated for injuries, spokeswoman Liz Dupont-Diehl said.

The accident happened about 3:30 p.m. near the Amtrak station during New London’s Sailfest summer festival, where a crowd had gathered on both sides of warning gates as a train passed, witnesses said. Once the train departed and the gates lifted, the pedestrians and the Chevrolet Caprice wagon both began to cross.

Mayor Elizabeth Sabilia said the driver, Robert Laine, was driving across the tracks to get to the Fishers Island ferry when his car struck a pedestrian.

“He panicked,” she said.

The car then lurched through the crowd, which witnesses said was about four- or five-people deep.

Police and emergency personnel from New London, Conn., and surrounding towns tend to victims of an accident Saturday next to the New London Train Station in New London. An elderly man drove his station wagon into a crowd during New London's Sailfest summer festival, injuring 27 people, city officials said.

“People were facing the tracks and didn’t see the car coming,” witness Bill Hoezel told The Day of New London. “The car was moving probably 10 to 15 miles per hour, much quicker than someone trying to edge through a crowd. There was no warning and no screaming, just thump-thump-thump as the bodies were hit.”

The injured were taken to Lawrence and Memorial Hospital and all were expected to be treated and released by late Saturday night, hospital spokesman Kelly Anthony said.

Laine, of Wallingford, and a female passenger were not injured.

Terrie Castagna, 43, a former paramedic, helped with first aid until emergency crews arrived. She said Laine told her the gas pedal in his car was stuck.

“He was shaken. He was in shock,” she said.