A witness has described the horrifying moment she failed to revive a baby that landed at her feet at a gas station after a female driver sped at least 80mph through a red light, slammed into five cars, and killed six people – including a child and a pregnant woman.
A woman has claimed that the speeding 40-year-old driver, who was her friend, was ‘drunk’ and ‘fighting with her boyfriend’ before she smashed into a traffic jam in Windsor Hills, Los Angeles.
Vehicles were sent screeching across the street, bursting into flames, before finally coming to a stop in a mangled wreck just feet away from rows of highly flammable pumps.
The gut-wrenching pile up, between South La Brea Avenue and Slauson Avenue, killed the pregnant woman, now named as Asherey Ryan, her unborn baby boy and the one-year-old.
Meanwhile, seven people have been left fighting for their lives with horrendous injuries following the devastating smash at 1:40 p.m. The driver is one of those with major injuries in hospital.
Witness Veronica Esquival said that she was pumping gas when debris suddenly started flying through the air during the horrific smash – caused by the female driver, who is said to have been alone in the car.
This is the horrific moment the Los Angeles driver sent the row of cars hurtling toward another gas station over the road before stopped just before the pumps
A child’s car seat was seen ejected from a vehicle on the crash site. It was confirmed that a baby died in the horrific ordeal
Graphic shows the direction the SUV was going in along South La Brea Avenue when it ran the red light and caused the horrendous crash
Skid marks are seen on the ground at the intersection as investigators on Thursday evening tried to work out what had happened
Witness Veronica Esquival said that the baby landed at her feet after the deadly smash. She was pumping gas at the station when the tragedy happened
She said that a baby tragically landed on the floor in the middle of the gas station before panicked workers tried to resuscitate the child.
She said: ‘I was about to pump gas and all of a sudden, I hear all of the noises from all of the collisions, and then the fire explosion and I saw things, metal and things flying in the air. So, I just covered myself behind the pump.
‘All of the sudden, a baby literally flew from the middle of the intersection to the middle of the gas station and landed right on the floor in front of me.
‘One of the workers came and saw me with the baby and took the baby out of my hands. Somebody tried to resuscitate the baby, but the baby was gone.’
One woman, who claims to be a friend of the Mercedes driver, said she believed she had been drinking after having an argument with her boyfriend at a nearby house before the deadly crash.
She told KTLA: ‘She was drinking and she was not aware that it was a red light because she shot straight through.’
Another heartbroken witness Alphonso Word, who was just a few cars away from the intersection when the tragedy struck, said that the crash sounded ‘like a bomb.’
He said that the child was ‘ejected from the street’ as was the the pregnant mother, who ‘landed over to the side.’
Devastating images show vehicles left burnt out after firefighters doused the huge flames caused by the crash – after an inferno made it look like ‘the whole intersection was on fire.’
The Mercedes races past a gas station then smashes into the side of a traffic jam, causing a flaming inferno in the Windsor Hills district
Fire department officials are seen on Thursday with a burnt-out car following the crash
The Mercedes coupe can be seen speeding past the gas station toward the intersection before the sickening crash on Wednesday
Another witness Alphonso Word said that the crash sounded ‘like a bomb.’
Devastating images show vehicles left burnt out after firefighters doused the huge flames caused by the crash – after an inferno made it look like ‘the whole intersection was on fire.’
The shocking footage, taken from a gas station overlooking the scene, starts as the Mercedes coupe races past the pumps at blistering pace.
The doomed vehicle fails to break as it bears down on the traffic flowing both ways across the packed intersection.
It slams into the first car, which immediately bursts into a sickening fireball before plowing through several others that spin from the huge impact. The crash sends them all hurtling towards another gas station across the intersection before finally coming to a stop in a crumpled mess.
The pile up came to a stop just before the second gas station over the road, which is considered an architectural icon.
One woman claimed that the driver was her friend, and that she had been drinking after fighting with her boyfriend prior to the deadly crash
The gut-wrenching pile up, between South La Brea Avenue and Slauson Avenue, killed the pregnant woman, her unborn child and the one-year-old
The doomed vehicle fails to break as it bears down on the traffic flowing both ways across the packed intersection
Social media images showed the battered vehicles left without wheels and roofs following the brutal impact
Images show mangled, burnt out vehicles splattered across the street in what was described by California Highway Patrol as looking ‘like a war zone.’
Eight of the nine injured were sent to area hospitals and six of the nine are children and teens. The driver of the Mercedes is believed to be one of the people sent to the hospital with major injuries.
Debra Jackson, who was filling her car with gas, told CBSLA: ‘All of a sudden, I heard a big explosion and flames went over my whole car. I though my car was on fire.’
California Highway Patrol spokesman Franco Pepi said that ‘at least six or seven’ vehicles were involved – and three became engulfed in flames. He also confirmed that the driver was a 40-year-old woman.
He added: ‘Just unknown reasons for the high speed at this time … Everyone needs to drive with more due regard because a lot of collisions happen, and this just happens to be at the top of the list of how bad they can get.’
The shocking footage, taken from a gas station overlooking the scene, starts as the Mercedes coupe races past the pumps at blistering pace
Meanwhile seven people have been left fighting for their lives with horrendous injuries following the devastating smash at 1:40 p.m.
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