The incident happened just after 6:30 p.m. near the intersection of Rockaway Boulevard and Brookville Boulevard in Rosedale.
[Ads /]
Police said two people in a 2014 Dodge Charger were traveling west on Rockaway Boulevard when the vehicle struck an eastbound tractor-trailer making a left turn into Kennedy Airport's Logistics Center on Rockaway Boulevard.
The car was crushed beneath the truck, as emergency crews raced to save the two men inside.
"The fire department tried to extricate the people from the car," truck driver Mike Bogdan said. "Chaotic scene. They broke the whole truck, the whole car, and then they pulled them off."
The 23-year-old driver of the Dodge, from Far Rockaway, sustained head trauma and is in critical condition at Jamaica Hospital. His passenger, a 28-year-old man, also from Far Rockaway, is in critical condition.
[Ads /]
A third vehicle, a 2016 Ford Expedition, was hit by flying debris.
The driver of the tractor-trailer and the 62-year-old driver of the Ford were uninjured.