PHILADELPHIA — Three people have died after the driver of a white SUV lost control and crashed at in the Kensington section of Philadelphia.
Philadelphia Police say the SUV driver jumped a curb at a high speed and hit pedestrians outside of SEPTA’s Allegheny Station, striking at least three people, shortly before 2:45 a.m. Tuesday. The driver was traveling east on Allegheny Avenue approaching Kensington Avenue and wasn’t able to turn on the bend in the highway, barreling through the intersection, mounting the curb and striking a turnstile, police said.
After hitting the turnstile, the SUV hit two pedestrians before crashing into the wall of the station.
The driver of the SUV, along with the two pedestrians — a man and woman — were pronounced dead at the scene of the crash around 3 a.m. One man’s body in front of the SUV was charred and decapitated, Chief Inspector Scott Small said at the scene.
The driver — who was not immediately identified — was going fast when the SUV crashed, driving at least 100 miles per hour, Small said. Police also said a 53-year-old man was taken to Temple University Hospital, where he is in stable but serious condition.
In a video of the scene, the SUV is seen smoking from the front, which is completely mangled and destroyed. Surveillance footage reviewed by The Philadelphia Inquirer shows the SUV at the moment of impact, crashing into the turnstile and the wall of the station, hitting one pedestrian so forcefully that the person is flung in the air and lands a few feet away on the sidewalk.
A member of the the Department of Licenses and Inspection was at the scene to check on the structural integrity of the building.
