MIAMI (WSVN) - Two women have been transported to the hospital after the vehicle they were in drove off a parking deck in Miami.
No one else was injured.
City of Miami and Miami-Dade Fire Rescue units responded to the shopping plaza along Southwest 57th Avenue and Eighth Street at approximately 11:24 a.m., Wednesday.
Surveillance video caught part of the event as debris was sent flying once the car smashed onto the restaurant.
Officials said the driver behind the wheel of the car accelerated and drove off the second floor parking landing. The car then landed upside down on top of a restaurant.
Witnesses who were inside Aromas del Peru are said to have sprung into action to free the two individuals.
Lt. Pete Sanchez of Miami Fire Rescue said, “We’re being told that two civilian bystanders pulled the two victims out of the vehicle.”
One of the bystanders was an employee of the restaurant.
Nicole Astete, whose family owns the restaurant, described the employee who responded immediately to the scene.
“The first thing he did, he went to the car, he opened all the doors, and he saw they had broken wrists because they fell down. The car was there, and it was literally on fire and no one was doing anything. He got everyone in the staff, and they came out with fire extinguishers so they could try to put everything out. He was very nervous because he didn’t know what was happening.”
Astete said the restaurant will have to close just after reopening.
Astete said, “We’re going to have to be closed for two weeks because we have to wait for the investigation, property fixes and also because of the fact that we don’t know if the building’s going to be OK, the structure.”
“I heard a loud sound, like if something had fallen,” said witness Milagros Pino. “When I looked outside, the car was already on the street.”
A technical rescue team from City of Miami Fire Rescue assessed the building’s damages and determined it did not need to be stabilized.
Drivers are advised to avoid the area as crews work to clear the scene.
The injured women are expected to be OK.
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