A car driving the wrong way on a road in Chicago caused an eight-car collision and the death of two people last Wednesday night. Sixteen people were injured.
The eight-car pileup happened at around 5 pm at East 87th Street and South Cottage Grove Avenue.
Chicago Fire Department’s spokesperson Larry Merritt reported that at least 10 ambulances arrived to help paramedics deal with the injured people at the crash scene.
Two people who died in the crash were declared dead at the scene of the high-speed vehicle accident. One of the cars in the collision burst into flames when it crashed and another was flipped over.
Merritt said that this was the worst accident he had seen in his career.
David Brown, the Chicago Police Superintendent, spoke to reporters on Wednesday night and said the car that caused the accident was a black Dodge Charger, racing on the wrong side of the road before crashing into other vehicles and eventually bursting into a ball of fire.
According to Superintendent Brown, the owner of the Dodge Charger reported it stolen earlier that day in Markham. The police uncovered a gun in the back of the car, and its two occupants, who had stolen the car, died in the fire.
The wreckage of the vehicles was still at the intersection during Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Superintendent Brown’s press conference. There was a pile of six vehicles on top of each other, with one car flipped and two more badly damaged vehicles nearby.
Brown urged residents to drive slower, saying that the senseless tragedy could have been avoided by slowing down.
The police have not yet identified the two people who perished in the crash.
Children are among the injured, with seven children and nine adults being rushed to the hospital.
On Thursday morning, police said the injuries ranged from fractured wrists to body pain, with most of the injured in good condition.
All the victims were in vehicles except for a 54-year-old man, who was injured while on the sidewalk. He suffered a dislocated kneecap.
Police Superintendent Brown did not disclose why the Dodge charger was speeding or its speed, but he said the police had launched an investigation into the tragic incident, which would hopefully lead to more answers.
The Police Superintendent urged people to avoid speeding, adding that it was the leading cause of over 100 fatalities caused by traffic accidents this year.
Mayor Lightfoot said that speeding had become a huge problem in Chicago and the best way to deal with the situation was for the police to get more aggressive, arrest people and lock them up. She fears for pedestrians and road users who could potentially lose their lives because of speeding.