New York

SEVEN DEAD AFTER VAN PLUMMETS 100 FEET INTO BRONX ZOO FROM THE BRONX RIVER PARKWAY

April 29, 2012 at 4:45pm

MyFoxNY reports:

Seven people were killed Sunday after the van they were in flipped over the railing of an elevated highway and fell more than 150 feet into a rail yard bordering the Bronx Zoo, authorities said.

The van was driving southbound in the left lane of the Bronx River Parkway at about 12:30 p.m. when it ricocheted across all lanes of traffic, flew over the railing and fell roughly 150 feet to the ground, according to police and fire department sources.

Four adults and three children, all of whom were in the van, died in the crash.

Fox 5 News reports that the unidentified adults were an 84-year-old man and three women, ages 80, 45 and 30.

The children were girls, ages 12, 10 and seven.

"The vehicle was traveling at a high rate of speed -- it hit something that caused it to be airborne over the railing," said FDNY Deputy Chief Ronald Werner.

"They flew right over the guardrail, didn't even touch it," another law enforcement source said.

"The car was crushed upside down, it fell approximately 100 feet and was crushed. Seven victims were removed from the car, they were pronounced dead on the scene," Werner said, adding that one firefighter suffered a minor injury during a subsequent search of the heavily wooded area where the car landed.

Werner described a heartbreaking scene.

"I've been in the fire department 30 years, sometimes you come upon events that are horrific, and this was one of them. You see young kids hurt or lose their life it's always harder than when you find someone in an older age. It affects all our units," he said.



Photo by Louis Lanzano - Full Story on MyFoxNY.

May 11, 2013 at 12:11AM

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