A community is mourning after an out-of-control car crashed into food vendors on a sidewalk outside a Metro station in North Hollywood, killing three people and injuring at least three others.
The crash occurred around 5:55 p.m. near the intersection of Lankershim and Chandler boulevards, where officers responded to reports of a vehicle that had struck pedestrians, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
“The car ran over people who were eating and people who were selling food. Unfortunately, three people died today,” said Los Angeles police Capt. Warner Castillo.
Three people were also taken to a hospital, including the 60-year-old driver.
Gian Barbarona, who was walking just feet away when the car came barreling through the area, described hearing the screeching of tires moments before the crash. He captured the aftermath on his cellphone.
“The moment I crossed this station, this crossing right here and went to the other side, I heard from zero to screeching, from nothing to like a loud screeching of wheels,” Barbarona said.
“I saw everything just like, it was almost like a, like a, like a pipe bomb exploded,” he said.
“I saw all of them go up and all of them go down and,” Barbarona said. “And I just started filming the aftermath of everything.”
“I just saw all the casualties in the aftermath,” he added.
Residents said the vehicle struck food vendors who regularly set up their stands along the sidewalk outside the Metro station, an area where vendors have become familiar faces to those who live and work nearby.
“They always help the homeless help people around here… it breaks my heart, it breaks my heart that people don’t know how to slow down,” said Angela Parker, a North Hollywood resident.
Others expressed shock and sadness as they described the vendors who were part of their daily lives.
“There’s these beautiful couple that sits here and they just sell their food all day and the woman right next to him,” a witness said.
“I mean, it’s just I can’t believe this.”
For many who gathered at the scene, the tragedy struck close to home, as they mourned the loss of people they considered part of their community.
The incident remains under investigation.