Last Updated on 4 months by News Admin
(NY DAILY) – Two young women who were best friends and a young man were killed when the car they were riding in slammed into a tree in Queens early Tuesday, police and relatives said.
The 24-year-old driver of the Nissan Altima was the only survivor after he lost control and crashed into a tree in South Ozone Park near the outskirts of Kennedy Airport about 3:50 a.m., cops said.
Investigators believe the Altima was speeding when the vehicle veered into the tree, police sources said.
“I heard one big noise. One bam!” neighbor Dave Singh said. “I jump out of my sleep and think, ‘I am dreaming’ but then I look outside and I see it.”
Singh, 43, and other neighbors rushed over to North Conduit Ave. and 122nd St. where they found only one person moving inside the mangled wreck.
“The guy was alive,” he said about the front-seat passenger. “He was moving around and breathing. We were yelling at him, ‘Don’t sleep! Don’t sleep! Help is coming.’ But there was no way we could have helped because everything was pinned down and the door was locked.”
It was initially believed that a fire broke out in the car and that the victims were burned, but those reports proved to be incorrect, officials said later Tuesday.
Responding firefighters pried open the doors and tore off the roof to get access to the trapped occupants. More than 100 first responders pitched in, Singh said.
Medics took the driver to Jamaica Hospital in stable condition. His name was not released and no charges were immediately filed.
The driver managed to crawl out of a car window after the crash, Singh said.
“Kimani was a quiet person with a lot of friends,” said her uncle Vincent Thomas, 34, a security guard. “She was a loving person. She grew up around here and everyone in the neighborhood loved her.”
Thomas said he didn’t know the driver. He said his niece was a full-time student at a college in Staten Island.
Singh and his neighbors believe the car was speeding when it hit the curb and “went airborne” until it hit the tree.
