One person has died and four others were injured after they were struck by a vehicle on Canal Street in Lower Manhattan.
The FDNY and NYPD were on the scene treating the victims at around 7:00PM, at Canal and Forsyth Street in Chinatown.
It appears the driver, a 70-year-old man, lost control of his minivan while trying to parallel park. The driver claimed he thought he was in park and hit the gas pedal, according to officials. Surveillance footage (see below) shows the vehicle travelling in reverse at a high rate of speed.
The driver remained on the scene. He was arrested and charged with seven counts each of failure to yield and failure to exercise due care.
The injured pedestrians were taken to Bellevue Hospital. 2 were in critical condition, and two were in serious condition. The driver and his passenger, possibly his wife, were lightly injured and refused medical attention.
NEW: Surveillance video obtained by @NY1 shows driver backing down street and crashing into a fruit stand, where 1 person was killed and 6 people were injured. pic.twitter.com/qfV7G5oEQL
— Myles Miller (@MylesMill) November 27, 2018
Terrible car crash on Canal St has killed 1 pedestrian and injured 6 more. A full NYPD investigation is underway. We cannot accept loss of life on our streets as inevitable. We will continue working harder every day to reach #VisionZero.
— Mayor Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) November 27, 2018
4 Responses
tragic but why are 50 emergency personell just standing around
According to CBS NY, the driver is Henry Herman. May they all be comforted.
Why was he arrested? They say it was an accident. Something dosent make sense.
According to the Daily News, he wasn’t arrested; he was issued an appearance ticket. But YWN never lets facts get in the way.
Editors Note: Stick with the Daily News. FYI, here is the exact information (unedited – besides for YWN removing the name and the street where he lives) from the NYPD themselves:
Arrested:
XXXXX, XXXXXX
70-year-old male
17 XXXXXX Drive, 202
Monroe, NY
Charges:
Failure to Yield to Pedestrians (7 counts)
Failure to Exercise Due Care
Unsafe Backing of Vehicle
Drive on/across a sidewalk