MIAMI GARDENS, FLA. (WSVN) - Police said speed was a factor in a fiery three-vehicle crash in Miami Gardens that sent three people to the hospital.
The incident happened near Northwest 213th Street and 37th Avenue where a tow truck was seen mounting two demolished vehicles, Friday afternoon.
Another vehicle was seen in ruins as only the front of a white car was left behind.
7SkyForce hovered above firefighters as they doused the flames of the white car.
Police said the collision happened early in the day, on the southbound lanes of 37th Avenue; they blocked off a section of the street to clean up the mess.
Miami Gardens Police and Miami-Dade Fire Rescue units responded to the scene after a car fire ignited as a result of the crash.
Officials said a Corvette was speeding down 37th Avenue when it collided with two other vehicles.
“All I heard was a great ‘boom!’ I mean, the whole house [shook]. I said, ‘What?!'” said area resident Clara Johnson. “I ran up, ’cause I was reading a book. There was no one out here, and when I ran out, there were three cars right there.”
Cellphone video captured the flames and thick black smoke billowing from the burning car.
Investigators said the driver of the Corvette exited the car before it became engulfed in flames.
“The car exploded, the motors one way, the engine, the whole car disintegrated,” said witness Sylvia Gilbert.
When she saw the flames, Johnson said, she quickly grabbed her fire extinguisher.
“The guy took the fire extinguisher from me. He ran and tried — they took the fire extinguisher and ran up to the [car] and pulled [the driver] out and dragged him out,” she said. “I tried to run to the fire, but I backed up because it was so hot.”
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue crews put out the flames.
Gilbert said she also saw crews treating a man who she believed went into cardiac arrest.
Paramedics were seen putting two of the drivers in an ambulance before they were taken to an area hospital.
The driver of the Corvette was airlifted. All three patients’ conditions remain unknown.
Although the speed limit where the crash happened is 35 mph, Gilbert said the driver was going much faster.
“It’s sad, and I pray that these people will be OK,” she said. “All this flying up and down the street is not worth it. You’re endangering your life and other people’s lives.”
“Oh, wow. It was so exciting, and it scared me so bad. My stomach is still hurting,” said Johnson.
The scene of the crash has since been cleared, as police continue to investigate.
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