Multiple injured after taxi plows into pedestrians at iconic place on Christmas
Multiple people including a nine-year-old boy are injured after a taxi jumped a curb and struck them at Herald Square in New York City on Christmas Day.
Three people including the child have been hospitalized, police said.
The cab driver, 58, may have suffered a medical episode while going onto the sidewalk at West 34th Street and Sixth Avenue, near the flagship Macy’s store. The driver’s identity was not immediately released.
Six people were struct shortly after 4pm on Wednesday.
The boy and a 41-year-old woman were transported to NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, according to cops. A 49-year-old woman was sent to NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue.
Three other pedestrians – women aged 19, 37 and 49, refused medical attention at the scene.
The injuries were not life-threatening, police said.
A man from Oregon said his wife was struck by the cab on the back of her shoulder, and that he helped the 9-year-old boy. The boy’s mother was also hit, he said.
‘I ran over and noticed there was a little boy, his leg was underneath the front passenger tire as it was spinning,’ the man told WABC.
‘And then there was a group of people. One gentleman went over shut the car off, got into it shut it off.
‘There was a whole group of us that ripped the fender off, lifted the car back and then that’s when I grabbed the little boy, got him to the corner, realized that what ended up being his mom underneath.’
Herald Square is one of the most iconic places during the holiday season in Midtown Manhattan. It is a main shopping district, has festive Macy’s window displays and the recent addition of a holiday market. On December 16, 18 stores at the holiday market were destroyed due to a fire that broke out.
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