Van strikes multiple people near New York's Penn Station
NEW YORK -- Multiple people were struck by a van on Friday near Pennsylvania Station in Manhattan, a New York Police Department spokesperson said.
Two women and one man were injured but their injuries were non-life-threatening. The collision appeared to be an accident, the spokesperson said.
The crash took place around 5:30 p.m. on Friday near 32nd Street and Seventh Avenue when a red commercial van jumped a curb and struck the pedestrians.
The motorist, a 68-year-old New York man, told police his floor mat became stuck on top of the gas pedal, causing the car to roll through the intersection.
There was no indication that alcohol was involved in the crash, NYPD Inspector Matthew Hyland said in a news conference Friday evening. He said the driver was shaken up, but had been cooperating with police.
The collision occurred at the height of rush hour, leaving some commuters worried that the incident was intentional.
"I immediately assumed it was a terrorist attack and panicked, freaked out, and asked what's going on," Kristine Risbergs of Long Island told CBS New York.
"Everybody was in a panic -- like a shock. They stopped where they were going and everybody came out of the subway and into the streets," Greg Van Kesteren told the station. "It was terrible."
Police had closed several blocks of Seventh Avenue as paramedics tended to those wounded.
Paulin Burt said she heard "a lot of people screaming" after the incident but first responders "were so fast it was unbelievable."
