Two adults were killed and two others critically injured in a rollover incident on the Southwest Side early Sunday morning, according to officials.
According to Chicago police, the collision occurred around 5 a.m. in the Little Village neighborhood, near West 26th Street and South California Boulevard. That’s close to the Cook County Jail and the George N Leighton Criminal Courthouse. All of the victims are adults, and the two who died were passengers in the vehicles involved in the accident.
On Sunday morning, police said one person was rushed to Mount Sinai Hospital in critical condition and later died.
The Chicago Fire Department reported that three other people were initially rushed to Stroger Hospital in serious condition. Later Sunday afternoon, police confirmed that one of the victims had died.
According to authorities, a 37-year-old lady was driving one of the automobiles, and is in bad condition. Another person, described solely as male, is listed in critical condition.
What caused the crash was not immediately obvious.
“The way it sounded, I thought someone had hit the building,” neighbor Edquinette West stated.
Residents of Lawndale Garden Homes will never forget the early-morning collision.
“Just metal crushing… loud, loud metal crushing,” neighbor Gwendolyn Baldwin stated.
Andre Stewart, a neighbor, discovered that the driver of the silver Kia SUV was trapped inside. He and another individual attempted to save her by breaking the front windshield. Stewart stated that the victim wore a Chicago Police Department uniform. CPD declined to confirm whether she is an officer.
“All I heard was ‘boom!'” Just like that, when I started heading around this direction, there was a big old boom sound, like if something had exploded,” Stewart added. “There is a lady in there, the other guy looked behind me and said she is still breathing that’s when we picked up some of the stuff from the accident and stating beating on the windshield to get in the car.”
Stewart stated that the fire crew arrived just in time and finished the job. The 37-year-old female Kia driver was brought to Stroger Hospital.
According to Baldwin, speeding on 26th Street is a common cause of crashes at the crossroads.
“They recently added those cameras, but the camera is not going to stop anyone from speeding,” Baldwin explained.
Baldwin dialed 9-1-1 after hearing about the crash. She stated that iron fencing was installed to protect their homes, and concrete bollards were installed four months ago to safeguard their automobiles from collisions at the intersection of 26th and California.
“For the citizens’ safety, and it was effective. “My car is fine,” Baldwin explained.
Authorities did not immediately release any other details regarding the crash.