Three people were killed and 11 injured in a horrific chain-reaction crash on the Long Island Expressway in Maspeth, Queens. Investigators suspect that two cars may have been involved in a high-speed race when the accident occurred. The crash happened early Wednesday morning at 4:20 a.m., when a speeding 2010 black Infiniti sedan carrying five […]
Three people were killed and 11 injured in a horrific chain-reaction crash on the Long Island Expressway in Maspeth, Queens. Investigators suspect that two cars may have been involved in a high-speed race when the accident occurred. The crash happened early Wednesday morning at 4:20 a.m., when a speeding 2010 black Infiniti sedan carrying five people slammed into a divider as it tried to exit at Maurice Avenue, splitting the vehicle in half. Police say the driver lost control of the vehicle on the lower-level eastbound LIE.
The Infiniti driver was a 25-year-old Army National Guard sergeant from Oakland Gardens, Queens, New York Post reports. He was killed in the accident along with two back-seat passengers: his best friend, a 24-year-old guardsman from Brentwood, LI and a 24-year-old woman from Franklin Square, LI. All three were declared dead at the scene.
The front half of the Infiniti was struck by a 2012 Acura TL traveling in the same direction.
Police say the driver of a dump truck approached the accident at high speed. He slammed his brakes but was unable to stop in time, hitting five other cars that were stopped at the initial crash site. The second collision did not cause any serious injuries. The driver of the Acura, 27, sustained only minor injuries and refused medical attention at the scene.
All survivors from the incident were taken to Elmhurst and Queens General hospitals. One of the survivors had gone into cardiac arrest. “I saw a dead body lying on the street, then I saw a head sticking out of the Infiniti,” one witness said to New York Post. “It was a horrible scene.”
The Infiniti driver and his friends were coming home after a night out in Manhattan. His devastated father told New York Post “I’d never think something like that could happen to him,” he said. “He was just a great son, a great son.”
Family members say he and the 24-year-old from Brentwood were “inseparable”. The driver had also asked his girlfriend’s father permission to marry her just two weeks before. His uncle doubted that his nephew was speeding, telling New York Post he “would drive a little fast sometimes, but people are saying he was going 100 mph. That really wasn’t like him.”
The third victim worked as a secretary for the Nassau County Police Department. She was planning on entering graduate school. “She was the sweetest person I know. Sweetest person on Earth,” her cousin said. “ couldn’t have asked for a better daughter. This is just too sad.”
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