3 dead after car crashes into people outside Los Angeles metro station during rush hour

LOS ANGELES (AP) - A minivan crashed into people outside a metro station in North Hollywood during rush hour Tuesday, killing three and critically injuring the driver and at least two others, authorities said.

The vehicle ended up under a food vendor’s tent after crashing at a busy intersection just before 6 p.m.

The driver, who is in his 60s, was taken out of the vehicle and was able to talk but appeared in shock, Los Angeles Police Capt. Warner Castillo said. Officials have not determined the cause or ruled out anything.

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

The minivan was on the sidewalk Tuesday night with its driver’s side door left opened and its air bag deployed. Fire engines and emergency crews worked nearby as a helicopter flew overhead.

Luis Luna-Guzman was working at a burger stand nearby when he heard a loud boom and saw people on the ground along with food and cups. People nearby started running towards the crash.

As he walked closer, he found one woman laying near the bike racks, her face, arms and legs bloody, he said. Her eyes were closed as she moaned in pain, he said.

“I told her, ‘don’t move, help is coming,’” he said.

He also said he saw a woman’s body nearby, while another woman was lying, unmoving on the stairs that lead to the station.

Mayor Karen Bass said the victims included street vendors and pedestrians.

“I’m heartbroken for the families of everyone impacted,” she said in a post on X.

Authorities will be checking the video in the area in what will be a “prolonged but very deliberate investigation,” said LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell.

One entrance to the metro remained closed Tuesday night, but otherwise the property wasn’t impacted and the stations for the bus and subway remained opened, according to Jose Ubaldo, spokesperson for the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

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Golden reported from Seattle.