Windsor police say a 34-year-old man will face dangerous driving charges after a fiery motor vehicle collision that sent six people to hospital Saturday night.
Shortly after 8:30 p.m., officers were dispatched to a motor vehicle collision near the intersection of Tecumseh Road E., and McDougall Street, the police service says.Â
Police said they will lay charges in the fiery crash that injured six people Saturday. (Submitted by Zubaida Soufan Kaafarani )
“Upon arrival, officers observed a pickup truck and SUV engulfed in flames. Police and bystanders successfully extricated both drivers, who were trapped inside the vehicles,” the police said in a Sunday morning news release.
“Through investigation, police determined that the pickup truck struck a small sedan while travelling westbound on Tecumseh, before veering into eastbound traffic and colliding with the SUV.”
‘Explosion of fire’
Nico Verrelli, 33, was across the street at 7-Eleven about to grab a slushie when he said he heard a vehicle flying through the intersection followed by back to back bangs and then “an explosion of fire from the resulting collision.”
Verrelli immediately called 911 before sprinting toward the scene, he said. Inside a silver SUV, he saw two unresponsive people — a woman in the passenger seat and a man behind the wheel with “that entire part of the vehicle almost crushed around him.”
“The SUV, the entire front of the vehicle was on fire and the Ram pickup truck was completely engulfed in flames at this point,” he said. “Complete chaos. People were screaming.”
Nico Verrelli, 33, said he phoned 911 before running to the SUV and rescuing a woman in the front passenger seat. (Pratyush Dayal/CBC)
He said he successfully pulled the woman out through the passenger side, but the driver was stuck with “his legs severely damaged and tangled up under the steering wheel.”
Verrelli ran to the driver’s side from the back side and tried to recline his seat.Â
“I was sitting inside the car while the car was on fire. Now the flames are growing and they’re starting to go inside the vehicle at this point through the windshield and I could taste and smell the smoke.”
Bystanders say they removed SUV’s driver with seconds to spare
At this point, Verrelli said he received help from Ali Abu Khazneh, who had just arrived in the area to buy some cheese for his Saturday night pasta. Khazneh said he stopped his car in the middle of the road and ran toward the SUV.
Khazneh said he entered through the front passenger side of the SUV as Verrelli climbed into the back seat. With much difficulty, they unbuckled the unconscious driver, pulled him out and placed him on the ground of nearby school Honourable W.C. Kennedy Collegiate.
“In seconds, we put them there and the car started blowing up. Sounds like fireworks, tires blowing up everything,” the 19-year-old said.
“It was horrific. Blood everywhere, all over our clothes, fire. There was smoke everywhere. Burnt smell. It was horrible…I did end up getting like a couple of little burns on my hair, my eyelashes, my hand.”
Ali Abu Khazneh says he and Nico Verelli pulled two people out of a burning vehicle involved in a serious collision on Tecumseh Road E. Saturday night. He says it was a horrific scene with blood everywhere, smoke blanketing the area and car debris scattered all over. (Pratyush Dayal/CBC)
Verrelli agrees that “just 30 seconds” after they removed the driver, the entire vehicle was “essentially engulfed in flames.”
Khazneh, who is studying to become a cop, said he later helped a responding officer clear onlookers to make way for EMS.
Both Windsorites urge other drivers to follow the speed limit and drive safely.
Investigation remains ongoing
Photos and video posted to social media from the scene show two vehicles on fire with emergency responders attending to victims. Shattered glass and car parts can be seen at the scene. The flames have left a part of the pavement charred.
Shattered glass and car parts can be seen at the scene alongside some personal items like this broken pair of glasses. (Pratyush Dayal/CBC)
The driver of the sedan was assessed on-scene and did not require medical treatment, police said. The SUV’s five occupants were admitted to hospital with serious injuries. The driver’s injuries were life-threatening.
Police said the driver of the pickup truck was also hospitalized with serious injuries where he remains in medical care and will face charges of dangerous driving causing bodily harm and leaving the scene of accident.
The weed along the stretch of the pavement where the accident ocurred is left charred due to the fiery collision. (Pratyush Dayal/CBC)
The police said the area was closed to traffic for several hours while their Traffic Reconstruction Unit conducted their investigation.
The investigation remains ongoing and anyone who witnessed the collision, or has information or video footage of the incident, is being asked to contact the Windsor Police Service Traffic Enforcement Unit at 519-945-9645 ext. 8803.