6 hurt when for-hire car crashes into Chelsea deli after collision with yellow cab
CHELSEA, Manhattan (WABC) -- Six people were hurt when a for-hire car jumped a curb and crashed into a deli in Chelsea, and now, one of those victims is speaking out.
The accident happened when a yellow cab T-boned the for-hire car just before 7:30 p.m. Thursday at West 21st Street and Eighth Avenue, sending the vehicle careening into the business.
Three pedestrians on the sidewalk were hurt, along with two deli employees and the driver.
The injured were all taken to Bellevue Hospital with injuries not considered life-threatening.
One victim spoke exclusively to Eyewitness News and said he actually thought the crash might have been a terror attack.
"The first things that come in my mind is that car that was crashing into Times Square, that was like driving towards the people, that's what I was thinking," Amine Elkhezzani said. "So I stood up and I came to the driver to make sure that he doesn't run or do some funny thing."
The Department of Buildings examined the damage to the deli and determined it was safe.
"I was just waiting by the counter putting my products up there and the next thing I hear 'pow' and heard people screaming and turned towards the door, and I just saw this car coming maybe like 20-30 miles per hour," one customer said.
One man said he saw his life flash before his eyes.
"My quick instinct was just to run to the back of the store," he said. "I just knew I was dead, just the way the speed was going. Thank God the pole was there to stop the car right there."
He said the impact sent the ATM and refrigerators flying, which then injured his elderly friend.
Both drivers remained at the scene.
"It could have been, we don't know yet, a red light that was run because it looks like there was a collision that happened in the intersection which pushed the non-yellow cab onto the sidewalk," Ciity Council Speaker Corey Johnson said.
So far, there is no word on any charges in the crash.
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