Seven victims in Bronx Zoo crash
Seven people, including three young children, who died when their minivan plunged 60ft and landed in a ravine on the grounds of a zoo, have been named by police.
Police identified the dead adults as Jacob Nunez (85) and Ana Julia Martinez (81), both from the Dominican Republic, and their daughters, Maria Gonzalez (45) and Maria Nunez (39) and three grandchildren. Police say Gonzalez was driving.
The children were identified as Jocelyn Gonzalez (10), the daughter of the driver, Niely Rosario (7) and Marly Rosario (3), both daughters of Nunez.
The 2004 Honda Pilot apparently flipped over a 4ft high iron fence before landing upside-down on the property of the Bronx Zoo, Americxa’s largest city zoo. The cause of the crash was unclear, and police didn’t confirm how fast the van was traveling. A city official said the guardrail’s height would be one of the safety issues investigated.
The SUV was headed south on the Bronx River Parkway when it bounced off the median, crossed three southbound lanes and hit the curb, causing the vehicle to become airborne, continue over the guardrail and plunge 59 feet, police said.
“Obviously, the vehicle was traveling at a high rate of speed” – FDNY deputy Chief Ronald Werner said. “It hit something that caused it to become airborne.”
Bronx Zoo van crash.
Three generations of a family died in a horrifying crash just a few miles from home when the SUV they were traveling in plunged more than 50 feet off a highway overpass and into a ravine on the grounds of the Bronx Zoo, killing all seven aboard, including three children.
“Sometimes you come upon events that are horrific and this is one of them” – FDNY deputy Chief Ronald Werner said shortly after the crash.
Authorities were trying to determine what caused Sunday’s accident that killed Jacob Nunez (85) and Ana Julia Martinez (81), both from the Dominican Republic, their daughters, Maria Gonzalez (45) and Maria Nunez (39) and three grandchildren. Police say Gonzalez was driving.
The children were identified as Jocelyn Gonzalez (10), the daughter of the driver, Niely Rosario (7) and Marly Rosario (3), both daughters of Nunez.
“They were a good, wholesome family” – a Bronx neighbor, Felicia Lee (29) told the Daily News.
“The mother always kept an eye on her children. They were typical little girls. They were gorgeous. They were so pretty” – Lee said.
Werner said the crash scene, less than five miles from Gonzalez’s Bronx home, was difficult to see, with contents of the van, including a pink schoolbag, strewn about.
“When you see young kids that have been hurt or injured or lose their life, it’s always harder than if you find someone that’s an elder age” – Werner said. “It affects all our units.”
The 2004 Honda Pilot was headed south on the Bronx River Parkway when it bounced off the median, crossed three southbound lanes and hit the curb, causing the vehicle to become airborne, continue over the guardrail and plunge 59 feet – police said.
The cause of the crash, which happened around 12:30 p.m., was unclear, and police haven’t yet said how fast the SUV was traveling. A city official said the guardrail’s height would be one of the safety issues investigated.
“Obviously, the vehicle was traveling at a high rate of speed” – Werner said. “It hit something that caused it to become airborne.”
Werner said that it doesn’t appear that any other vehicles were involved.
Police said all the victims were wearing seat belts.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqGCfSw8naw
The SUV was traveling southbound in the left lane of the Bronx River Parkway “at a high rate of speed” – about 70mph (113kph) in a 50mph (80kph) zone – when it suddenly veered into the center divider at about 12:30pm local time, authorities said.
The white Honda Pilot then ricocheted across all three southbound lanes and went airborne, flying over the right-hand guardrail before flipping and plummeting into the heavily-wooded area below, which is closed to zoo visitors, officials said.
“They flew right over the guardrail, didn’t even touch it” – a law enforcement source said.
Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said the vehicle landed on its roof with its passengers trapped inside, all wearing their seat belts. They were killed instantly.
Police sources shot down reports of a possible blown tire, saying there was no evidence of one. Investigators are looking at the vehicle’s speed and weight as factors in the crash.
Emergency crew chief Howard Sickles said the wreckage was so wrenching that even the rescue crew was distraught. “Everybody was taken aback by it because everybody … knows a child” – he said, “and you can see the emotion on everybody. It’s very upsetting.”
Fordham’s president, the Rev. Joseph McShane, said Sunday night: “It is hard to imagine a more tragic loss for a family, nor a more terrible grief than their loved ones must be enduring.”
Bronx borough president Reuben Diaz Jr. vowed to push for an investigation into the highway’s design, noting that it was the second time in a year that a car flew off the parkway.
In June, a Bronx politician and his girlfriend survived after his car flew off a 30-foot-high (10-meter-high) section of the parkway in the other direction and fell onto a truck.