At Least 1 Dead, Several Others Injured In Miami Gardens Crash
MIAMI (CBSMiami) - At least one person had died Wednesday afternoon and several others had to be transported to local hospitals following an accident involving a vehicle in Miami Gardens, authorities said.
It happened just before 3 p.m. at the Mt. Pisgah Seventh-day Adventist Church parking lot in the 3300 block of NW 215th Street.
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue said the accident involved nine patients in total. Four had sustained serious injuries, four suffered minor injuries and one person had died.
Police said a vehicle ran through a food bank line at the church, where food distribution was going at the time.
Chopper 4 was over the scene where a burgundy SUV could be seen against a wall.
Images showed several rescue units and one rescue helicopter.
"We are truly heartbroken over this event. It's been a heartbreaking day for us and heartbreaking day for our community," said Jessica Garcon, communications director for the church.
The church feeds about 300 families every two weeks. The operation was in full swing Wednesday with people lined up outside for food.
"What appeared to happen at Mt. Pisgah Church is something that they do often, where they have food for the community. They feed individuals. The individuals were here picking up food from their pantry here and unbeknown to them the accident occurred," said Carolyn Frazier with the Miami Gardens police.
Sources tell CBS4 the driver of the vehicle suffered a medical issue and put the vehicle in reverse striking eight people at high speed. One of those was trapped under the vehicle, a witness said.
"The lady was backing out. She was backing out she caught a stroke and when she caught the stroke instead of her hitting the brake, she hit the gas. So, the car went back faster and when the car went back faster it hit like 7 people," said witness Jay Morris.
Miami Gardens police did not confirm the cause of the crash.
"Freak accident it seemed like. I don't know," said church member Ester Lotmore.