5 killed in car crash in Queens on New Year’s Day

Just hours into the new year, five people were killed in a two-car crash involving an overturned vehicle in north Queens on Monday.

The cause of the crash remains under investigation and few details have been released, a police spokeswoman said. The incident happened around 6 a.m. and involved two vehicles – a Mazda and a Honda – traveling north on Cross Island Parkway, according to police.

Five passengers in the Mazda were pronounced dead at the scene, police said. A man driving the Honda was sent to NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital in Queens, where he was in stable condition.

Emergency services arrived on scene and found one of the vehicles overturned. Local residents who spoke to CBS News said the crash occurred near a sharp bend in the road that was notorious for causing difficult driving conditions.

This was the second of two notable traffic accidents in the city before the first sunrise of 2024.

About 1:30 a.m., a 44-year-old motorist trying to flee authorities in Midtown rammed police cars and a nearby food truck onto a sidewalk. At least 10 people were injured, including a woman trapped under the food truck near West 34th Street and Seventh Avenue. The woman and six other pedestrians involved in the crash were taken to hospital and are in stable condition.

Charges were pending as of Monday afternoon against the driver, who was hospitalized and in critical but stable condition, police said.