Two people were killed and seven injured — including one critically — when an 81-year-old driver in a white Mercedes struck three pedestrians and four idling cars in the Bronx Friday, police said.
Cops said the driver, traveling west on Allerton Ave., was unable to stop his Mercedes sedan and went barreling into the intersection at Holland Ave. around 2:14 p.m., striking three pedestrians and four cars.
“He waited for about five minutes, and then he sped up. I heard him change gears about twice,” said Mojalli Al-Abdi, 40, who owns the nearby Allerton Halal Meat Market. “There were three people that flew in the air. He ran into people and crashed into all of the cars.”
The three pedestrians were rushed to Jacobi Medical Center in critical condition, where two later died, police sources said. The six occupants of the five vehicles involved in the crash were also taken to Jacobi and are expected to survive.
Video obtained by the Daily News shows the Mercedes-Benz slam into a woman crossing Allerton Ave. in the intersection’s eastern crosswalk. Her body cartwheels through the air, landing on the pavement on the other side of Holland Ave., the video shows.
“The white car was speeding,” said Kamel Fulton, who narrowly missed being struck in the crosswalk in the chaotic crash. “This one lady was hit and went up in the air, and then he hit two other people and smashed into the other cars.”
As the footage continues, the Mercedes can be seen striking two more women in the intersection’s western crosswalk. One of the pedestrians goes over the car’s hood, while the other is shoved up and over a nearby SUV stopped at the intersection.
“There was so much blood. I ran over. I was giving her chest compressions,” Fulton said of one of the women struck in the western crosswalk. “I was crying. She wasn’t responding. She was unconscious, and I tried to bring her back. Other people were giving CPR to the others who were struck. The bodies were bleeding dark red blood.”
The Mercedes went on to strike four vehicles, including a blue Jeep, a Chevy Tahoe, a Cadillac Escalade and a black Mercedes, before coming to a rest on the double yellow line on Allerton Ave., the video shows.
“All four cars were direct hits,” Al-Abdi said. “It was unbelievable. I was dizzy. I almost threw up.”
Fulton said he spotted a small child in the white Mercedes’ back seat.
“The driver was an older man,” he said. “I ran over to him and said, ‘Yo, what’s wrong with you?’ He was talking nonsense. I couldn’t make out what he was saying.”
All drivers involved in the crash remained at the scene. There were no arrests.