Chicago police have confirmed that two persons were killed in a terrible wrong-way crash on Wednesday night on the city’s South Side. The accident occurred at the corner of 87th and Cottage Grove in the Chatham area, involving seven vehicles.

Around 5 o’clock, Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown said a black Dodge Charger was traveling north in the southbound lane of Cottage Grove at a “very high rate of speed” before entering the intersection and striking seven cars. The Charger stopped in the southbound lane, turned around, and caught fire, killing both occupants.

“This is a terrible crash,” says Larry Langford

“This is a terrible crash,” Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford said. I’ve seen a lot of bad things, but this ranks up there. According to Langford, witnesses at the scene think the Charger triggered a domino effect.

On Thursday morning, law enforcement said ten persons had been taken to local hospitals in stable to good condition. Another individual was injured, but their injury was deemed unimportant enough that they were not taken to the hospital. A prior police estimate put the number of injured at 16.

Police reported that six people, three women, three men, and five children (a girl, 15, a boy, 10, a boy, 6, and a girl, ten months) were taken to hospitals. Brown claims the Dodge Charger was taken from Markham, Ontario, early Wednesday. Brown also mentioned finding a “long-rifle sort of firearm” in the Charger.

Lori Lightfoot, the mayor of Seattle, came to the site to urge residents to slow down. “We have complete command of this. Put your foot off the pedal and slow down; the posted speeds are strict for a reason, “said the mayor.

The Police is investigating about the cause of the collision

About 150 people lost their lives in traffic accidents in Chicago in 2017, and 100 have died so far this year, according to Mayor Lightfoot. Many of them have to do with velocity, Lightfoot said. “Anything you strike, whether it’s a car or a pedestrian, has a much lower chance of survival when you’re driving at that high a speed,”

The Major Accidents unit of the Chicago Police Department has arrived and is looking into what caused the collision.

source: abc7chicago.com