BABYLON, NY – At least four people were killed and another nine injured when a driver crashed a minivan through the front of a nail salon on Long Island, New York, Friday afternoon, officials said.
The incident took place at 4:42 pm local time at the Hawaii Nail & Spa on Grand Avenue in Deer Park in Suffolk County.
Dominic Albanese, third assistant chief of the Deer Park Volunteer Fire Department, said in a news briefing that four people were pronounced dead at the scene and nine were rushed to area hospitals, including one airlifted. Several people had to be extricated, Albanese said.
“It appears a motorist drove through the building, all the way through the building,” Albanese said.
CBS2
The driver was one of the hospitalized. The condition of the injured victims was unknown.
Those killed in the crash were inside the building, Albanese said. No names have been released.
According to Albanese, the van was stuck in the back of the salon for hours. There were 150 firefighters and emergency workers on the scene.
The cause of the crash is under investigation.
Nail salon customers are among the 9 injured victims
At least two of the injured were nail salon customers.
Virginia Garcia told CBS New York that her 20-year-old niece was among the injured. Garcia said her niece is in a lot of pain and is extremely emotional after the incident.
“The lady sitting next to her died. So she was even more nervous because when she saw the other lady die, she thought, God saved her life, in short… She is lucky to be alive,” Garcia said.
She says her niece most likely has a few broken bones.
A client who normally has a standing appointment at 4:30pm on Fridays switched days this week. She showed up after hearing the news.
“I don’t even know who’s gone, who’s not gone. I keep seeing their faces,” said customer Jasmin Darbouze.
Witnesses say the driver swerved around the cars before crashing
Witnesses said the driver pulled out of the Kohl’s parking lot across the street, weaving around cars, lost control and crashed into the nail salon.
“It’s not a car crash. It’s like hearing glass breaking, it’s not metal on metal. It’s not the same sound,” said witness Eric Perez.
On Friday afternoon, a clergyman arrived on the scene to lend a listening ear to the victims’ families and emergency responders.
“If anyone wants to speak, if anyone just wants us to be here, we’ll come here,” said Andrea Sampson of the New York State Chaplain Task Force.
“It’s terrible. It’s going to be tough on the community, tough on the volunteer fire department, but we’re going to get through it,” Albanese said.
