Driver, 4 passengers identified after deadly crash on Cross Island Parkway in Queens
NEW YORK -- Investigators have released the names of the five people killed in a crash on the Cross Island Parkway early on New Year's morning in Queens.
Police say 24-year-old driver Kazeem Ramsahai, of North Carolina, died, along with four passengers from Queens identified as 30-year-old Mario Ocampo, 19-year-old Dayanara Benitez-Ocampo, 23-year-old Salma Garcia-Diaz and 20-year-old Jordy Bentances.
At around 6 a.m. Monday, their blue Mazda sedan was driving north on the Whitestone Expressway near the exit ramp for the Cross Island Parkway when it hit the center median and crossed onto the parkway.
A white Honda Pilot SUV was getting onto the ramp when the Mazda landed in its path and hit the Honda.
The 63-year-old driver of the Honda was taken to the hospital with neck and back injuries. He was listed in critical-but-stable condition.
Neighbors told CBS New York the crash happened at a dangerous bend in the parkway, nicknamed "dead man's curve."