ST. LOUIS — Four people are dead and four others critically injured after a car ran a red light and crashed into their SUV, which caused it to drive over an overpass and land on its roof.
The driver of the car that caused the crash left the scene.
The SUV carried a total of eight people; four were taken to hospitals and four were killed. The incident happened around 1:30 a.m.
Police said a preliminary on-scene investigation and a review of cameras show that a 2004 Chevy Impala was going southbound on South Grand and drove into the northbound lanes around stopped traffic.
It drove through the red light, and hit a 2021 Chevy Tahoe SUV, which was going west on Forest Park across South Grand.
The crash caused the Impala to go west on the Forest Park entrance ramp and come to a stop. The Tahoe went through the bridge guardrail, falling to the street below, where it landed on its roof in the westbound lanes of Forest Park.
The scene is adjacent to the St. Louis University campus.
Three male teenagers, 18, 19, the 19-year-old driver and a woman, 18, who were in the Tahoe were taken to hospitals and listed in critical but stable condition. The other four, one female and three males, were pronounced dead at the scene. Their ages and identities were not available.
At the scene Sunday morning, debris from a vehicle remained on a sidewalk on the west side of Grand. A metal guardrail had been torn away, and some debris remained on the westbound lanes of the avenue below, to the west of Grand.
The Missouri Department of Transportation is considering a proposal to level the intersection to make it safer for pedestrians. Forest Park Avenue has run below Grand near Highway 40 (Interstate 64) for decades.
Nick Desideri, spokesman for Mayor Tishaura O. Jones' office, said in statement: "St. Louis mourns the loss of four young lives, and we are praying for those still in critical condition following (Sunday) morning’s horrible crash at Forest Park and South Grand. Traffic violence at this location makes it the most unsafe intersection for pedestrians and cyclists in our entire city. Our office is reaching out to MoDOT regarding proposals to improve this area, and SLMPD continues to deploy a data-driven approach to hold dangerous drivers accountable in high-crash areas. The City is also exploring automated enforcement solutions to discourage dangerous driving.
"This week, Mayor Jones will sign into law the largest investment in road and pedestrian safety in the city’s history, calming streets and putting St. Louis on the path to its first mobility and transportation master plan. Tragedies like these remind us that addressing pedestrian safety and dangerous driving requires a true citywide approach."
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