Van Carrying Mentally Retarded Passengers Crashes, Killing Five
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A van carrying mentally retarded passengers erupted in flames after crashing into a tree in Queens yesterday, killing five passengers and seriously wounding four others, police officials said.
The van was carrying passengers from the Brooklyn Manor Home for Adults, a home for the mentally retarded in East New York, in the northbound lane of the Cross Bay Boulevard at about 3:07 p.m. when the driver lost control, police said. The van careened off the road and crashed into a tree. The passengers weren’t killed by the impact, but were trapped inside the van, which was quickly engulfed in flames, police said. The group was leaving a nature reserve, which they had visited on a day trip.
Police identified the victims as Jose Alvarez, 55; Miguel Cruz, 56; Mario Gonzalez, 58; James Lawson, 79, and William Smith, 69. Last night, officials said local hospitals were treating surviving passengers listed in serious condition, including Sheldon Wilson, 41; Carl Harkings, 44; Jose Prieto, 56; Jean Hastik, 60, and the driver, Guy Thelemaque.
Someone called 911 shortly after the accident and said to the responder, “The van is on fire, and people are trapped inside,” according to police.
The Brooklyn district attorney, Charles Hynes, said the passengers were unable to get to safety as the flames overwhelmed the van.
The Highway Unit and other investigators were trying to piece together the events that led to the accident.
“It’s a terrible, terrible tragedy,” Mr. Hynes told Channel 7 Eyewitness News last night. “Whether there is more to it, whether there is any criminality, remains to be seen.”
The accident comes less than four days after an accident in the Bronx that claimed the lives of four passengers, including an 8-year-old girl, and critically injured two others. A car carrying seven passengers was traveling on the Bronx River Parkway for a family basketball game, when the driver lost control and jumped over a barrier into oncoming traffic, killing the four passengers. Another seven people in other cars had less serious injuries.
