Two people are in critical condition and three others are seriously injured following an early-morning crash in Gravesend, according to the FDNY. The crash occurred at around 12:50 this morning at E. Fifth Street and Quentin Road, a department spokesman said. It involved the drivers of two black Mercedes-Benzes, according to Chaim Greenbaum, who shot photos of the aftermath, and it sent one car smashing into a utility pole.
The pole tore through the hood of the car and appears to have stopped at the dashboard. Photos of the scene show the two crashed cars stopped alongside each other, the engine of the impaled one burning, a wheel of the other lying on the ground.
A fire rages in the hood of the impaled car, background, as firefighters and medical responders attend to the scene. (Photo by Chaim Greenbaum)
Greenbaum said four of those injured were conscious when he arrived, and all five were taken to area hospitals, a Fire Department spokesman said. A Police Department spokeswoman said she did not have a record of the crash.
The leafy intersection of Quentin Road, a two-lane, two-direction street, with E. Fifth Street, a one-lane one-way, has been the scene of just two other crashes this year, both fender-benders that did not result in injuries, according to city data.
