A 70-year-old driver trying to parallel park on a New York City street Monday lost control of his minivan and struck several pedestrians standing next to a fruit stand, killing one person and injuring six others, police said.
“The car just suddenly appeared and banged into the wall backward. I was just so shocked,” said witness Jin Lin, 32, who saw several pedestrians trapped between the vehicle and the wall.
It happened shortly before 7 p.m. Monday in Manhattan’s Chinatown. Police said four people were hospitalized. Two were in critical condition and the other two were in serious condition.
According to police, as the driver approached a parking spot the vehicle accelerated, striking several people on the sidewalk. Video shows a dark-colored minivan speeding down a street in reverse.
A man who runs a parking lot across the street tells the New York Post “it sounded like a big boom.” He said he saw people under the vehicle and “a lot of blood.”
The unidentified driver, who remained at the scene, was arrested on charges of failure to yield to a pedestrian and failure to exercise due care.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.