Four people are dead and nine are hospitalized after a car rammed into a Long Island nail salon.
The crash occurred around 4:42 p.m. on Friday in the quiet hamlet Deer Park, according to WABC.
An unidentified driver, who plowed his minivan into the building, was transported to the hospital partially conscious, before a witness told CBS News they saw the person behind the wheel swerving while trying to pass other cars on the roadway where there is a 30 mph speed limit.
All of the victims who lost their lives from the crash were inside the nail salon at the time the car plowed through the front, trapping those injured within.
‘There were people trapped and we extricated them and transported everyone to area hospitals,’ Deer Park Third Assistant Chief Dominic Albanese said. ‘They were trapped inside. Everybody was inside the salon.’
Four dead and nine hospitalized after a car crashed into the Hawaii Nail & Spa salon in Deer Park
‘It’s horrible. It can be tough for the community and tougher for the volunteer fire department, but you know we’re going to get through it.
‘It’s just a horrible thing to see especially in this coming year with all the good things happening and graduations and whatnot.’
Video shows a chaotic scene first responders arriving at the strip mall, which also contains a liquor store and Dominican restaurant, as a massive police presence cordoned off the area.
Approximately 150 firefighters and paramedics from nine different fire departments and eight ambulances responded to the scene.
Video shows a chaotic scene at the strip mall with a massive police presence
An emergency helicopter landed at the scene to help transport those injured to the hospital
An emergency helicopter landed at the scene to help transport one victim to the hospital.
First responders struggled to break through the wreckage to get inside as the minivan remained lodged near the back of the store.
Eric Perez told Newsday he was loading groceries into his car in the parking lot across the street when he heard the crash.
‘We saw the ambulance and emergency workers pulling one body out, and I saw two women I think worked there come out on stretchers,’ he said.
This is a breaking news story, more to come.