At least one person was killed and nine injured in New York City’s eastern Bronx when a motorist barreled through a busy intersection, slammed into pedestrians and triggered a chain-reaction crash involving several vehicles, according to authorities and media reports.
The horrifying collision happened shortly after ۲pm in the Bronx’s Allerton neighborhood, with the driver at the center of the crash reportedly saying he was trying to beat a traffic light.
Sources told the New York Post that four women, ranging in age from ۵۰ to ۶۰, were walking through a crosswalk when the Mercedes struck them.
The victims were transported to Jacobi medical center, where one woman was pronounced dead. Two others were reported to be in critical condition, while the fourth was expected to survive, according to the Post’s sources.
The New York fire department (FDNY) said that emergency medical crews treated nine people in the aftermath of the crash, according to the local outlet News ۱۲.
Surveillance footage obtained by News ۱۲ captured a white Mercedes-Benz hurtling through the intersection, striking a group of pedestrians in the crosswalk before crashing into multiple vehicles waiting at a traffic light.
According to the NYPD’s preliminary findings, the Mercedes rear-ended two vehicles with such force that both cars were pushed into two additional vehicles.
The driver, who suffered minor injuries and remained conscious and alert, reportedly told a witness that he had been attempting to beat the traffic light, the Post said.
