2 dead, 4 seriously hurt in 'horrific' crash in Jefferson Park

 



Two people were killed and four others seriously injured in a two-car collision at an intersection in the Jefferson Park neighborhood that neighbors have long complained about.



The six victims included three children and three adults, officials said, correcting earlier reports. The ages of those who died was not known.



An emergency medical plan was called around 8 a.m. for the accident in the 4400 block of North Austin, fire officials said. One of the cars smashed into a pole.



Ana Rodriguez was in her home at the southwest corner of Austin and Sunnyside when she heard the crash. She opened her front door to see a "horrific" scene just past her property.



Rodriguez and other neighbors rushed to pry open the doors of a Honda Civic crushed against a light pole but couldn't. Two adults in the front were unresponsive, but a child in the back seat was crying that he couldn't feel his legs.



The group then heard a baby crying in the back seat. A third child was also in the back of the Honda, Rodriguez said. A car seat was on the street near the car.



"When I saw that my heart went out to them... Especially when it's in front of your house," she said.



Rodriguez said she has lived in her home since 1998 and has said she's seen plenty of accidents at the corner, but none like this.



"This one was nothing like I've seen since all these years that I've been here," she said. That includes 10 years ago when a car crashed into her basement.



"We're always calling the police" about all the accidents, Rodriguez said, adding that she has spoken to her alderman about the intersection.



Other neiighbors say the intersection is dangerous, and parents have told their kids to use a bus stop down the street because the one on the northwest corner of the intersection is too close to traffic.



Rodriguez said she was getting ready to take her son to school and then go to work when she heard her crash.



Gina Wininski, who arrived soon after the accident happened, told WGN-TV that as many as five people were in a Honda Civic. Firefighters had to cut a man out of the other car, a Mustang, she said.



Two victims were taken in serious to critical condition to Children's Memorial Hospital, officials said.



The four others -- three adults and a child -- were taken to Lutheran General Hospital, a spokeswoman said. Two of the people taken there died, she said. She did not have their ages.