3 killed, 3 critically injured after vehicle strikes pedestrians, street vendors

Jim McDonnell: File photo. The Los Angeles police Chief said investigators will review video to try and determine the cause of the crash. (Los Angeles Police Department)

LOS ANGELES — Three people were killed and three others were critically injured after an SUV struck pedestrians and crashed into a food stand near a North Hollywood bus stop in Los Angeles on Tuesday, authorities said.

According to the Los Angeles Fire Department, the collision occurred at approximately 5:55 p.m. PT near the Metro station at the corner of Lankershim and Chandler boulevards, KCBS reported.

Three victims were pronounced dead at the scene, according to KTLA. Paramedics transported at least three additional victims to area hospitals, where they were listed in critical condition, KABC reported.

Officials said the driver of the SUV was a man in his 60s, according to the television station. He was also hospitalized and was in critical condition.

Los Angeles police Capt. Warner Castillo said the motorist appeared to be in shock, and that officials were not immediately able to determine the reason for the crash, according to The Associated Press.

“We don’t know if it was done intentionally, if it was done by accident,” Castillo said at a news conference.

LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell said investigators will review video footage.

“It will be probably a prolonged but a very deliberate investigation to determine what happened here,” he told reporters.

Gian Barbarona missed the minivan’s path by few inches, KABC reported.

“I felt the wind of the whoosh, of the wind, on my left shoulder,” Barbarona told the television station.

“I’m heartbroken for the families of everyone impacted,” Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass wrote in a statement on X. “We will continue to provide updates as more information becomes available.”

The victims’ identities and ages have not been released, and police have not named the driver, KTLA reported.

An investigation is ongoing.

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