A passenger was killed when the car he was riding in slammed into a fire hydrant in Midtown early Tuesday morning, and now the driver has been charged with vehicular manslaughter.
Around 3:40 a.m. Tuesday on Sixth Avenue between 54th and 55th streets, the driver of a 2004 Nissan Altima lost control and hit a fire hydrant mounted on the sidewalk, police stated.
RELATED: Nineinjured after MTA bus crashes into overpass in Midtown The car hit the hydrant with such force that it was nearly torn in half, theNew York Daily Newsreported. The driver and passenger, both in their early 30s, were pinned inside the car after the crash but were removed by authorities and taken to area hospitals, Pix 11 reported. The passenger was pronounced dead at the hospital.
#breaking deadly accident in Midtown Manhattan after single car crash at 54th and 6th Ave. @PIX11News @PIX11Traffic pic.twitter.com/xUyVLVunhZ
— Anthony DiLorenzo (@ADiLorenzoTV) May 31, 2016
“The light here at 54th was red, and it looked like he tried to stop for the light and lost control. And that’s what made him run into the fire hydrant,” one woman who saw the crash said toNBC5. The deceased passenger has been identified as 33-year-old Juan Avila of Jackson Heights, according to police, who added that the driver, 32-year-old Shiva Sharma, has now been charged with vehicular manslaughter. RELATED:Midtown steam pipe rupture closes streets The driver was in serious but stable condition at Bellevue Hospital, the Daily News added.
