At least one person is dead in New York City after a speeding SUV struck two bicyclists and several vehicles in the Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan.
According to WABC-TV, the crash occurred sometime around 8 p.m. near the Apollo Theater in the historically black district of the city.
The Hyundai Tucson hit two passersby, WCBS-TV reported. Then, the driver hit several other vehicles, including a New York Police Department vehicle and a tractor trailer, both unoccupied.
Pictures from the scene indicate the vehicle stopped after it hit the semitruck.
“I hear, it was like explosion. Hit the gray car that was waiting over here. Then the pieces, they flew off, hit my car too. And then when he hit the gray car, he ran into the truck over there,” one witness told WCBS.
“I was panicked. I was in shock. It’s like I saw everything in slow motion.”
The two bicyclists were taken to different hospitals.
One, taken to Mount Sinai Morningside, was pronounced dead at the hospital. The other, taken to Harlem Hospital, was still in critical condition as of shortly after midnight.
“He knocked him out of his shoe,” another eyewitness said. “It was so unreal. We looked up and watched him flying.”
The eyewitnesses, interviewed by an independent journalist, said they had just crossed the street before the incident occurred.
“Just how unbelievable God is to us, because we were out of the way, we could have been gone, we could have been a casualty like this,” one of the eyewitnesses said. “That’s what we were feeling.”
“We started praying, because this was catastrophic,” he added.
Neither of the victims, nor the 49-year-old driver of the Tucson, have been identified yet. Three other men — 23, 28, and 40, respectively — were also taken to hospitals after being injured in cars struck by the driver.
All were in stable condition.
The driver was, according to eyewitnesses, going far too fast for conditions and lost control of the vehicle when he left the lane he was driving in.
Another witness said that he thought the driver may have been under the influence at the time of the crash. While the man is in police custody, charges are still pending as of 1:30 a.m. Eastern, and it’s unclear whether authorities believe drugs or alcohol played any role in the tragedy.
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