The driver of a Dodge Challenger ran a red light in Las Vegas Saturday afternoon and crashed into multiple cars, leaving nine people dead.
The speeding Challenger blew through the red light around 3 p.m. Saturday and careened into a Toyota, a Ford Fusion, a Chevrolet Malibu, a Hyundai Tucson and a Mercedes-Benz SUV, North Las Vegas Police Department spokesman Alexander Cuevas told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
At least 15 people were involved in the pile-up.
The driver and the car’s passenger both died. Other fatalities ranged from young children to middle-aged adults, according to police.
At least one person was hospitalized in critical condition and several suffered non-life threatening injuries.
None of the victims have been publicly identified, and a spokesperson for the Clark County Coroner’s Office did not immediately return a request for comment from the Daily News on Sunday.
“It was a chaotic event,” Cuevas told the Review-Journal.
“We have not seen a mass casualty traffic collision like this before. Please make this a safer community by slowing down. Pay attention to speed limits.”
The police have not announced the cause of the crash or how fast the Challenger was driving. It’s unclear if the driver was impaired at the time of the crash.
A spokesperson for the North Las Vegas Police Department did not respond to The News about the investigation.
The intersection was shut down until about 1:30 a.m. Sunday as first responders and investigators cleared the scene of wreckage, according to the Regional Transportation of Southern Nevada.
Nevada saw 382 people killed in traffic accidents in 2021, making it the deadliest year on the road since 2006, according to data compiled by the Review-Journal.
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