Video: 3 hurt, 1 critically, when car slams into Queens furniture store
OZONE PARK, Queens (WABC) -- A woman was critically injured when her car slammed into a Queens furniture store and caught fire early Thursday morning.
It happened on Liberty Avenue just before 3 a.m. in the Ozone Park section.
The silver Honda Accord somehow lost control northbound on 122nd Street, jumped the curb and crashed into the front of Salco Furniture.
The car, with Florida tags, hit the store with such force that the car shifted parallel to the sidewalk. Steel gates prevented the car from crashing through the window and into the store.
Witnesses said the car caught fire after the crash, and the driver and two passengers were trapped inside.
Video of the crash's aftermath shows good Samaritans using an extinguisher to put out the fire.
"I heard the bump the car made when it got stuck in the gate," witness Abdo Almeoliki said. "Then we came out and we saw the fire, and somebody asked for a bottle to extinguish the fire. I grabbed it from the back, and I went outside. We go there, there was fire in the bottom."
"There was a bang, we saw the car across the street so we ran to give a hand and try to get everybody help, but they were stuck," said Deano Chooweenan, an eyewitness. "There was a bit of flames starting up, so we got a fire extinguisher."
The 25-year-old driver is in critical condition at Jamaica Medical Center.
Her two passengers, a 41-year-old man and a 22-year-old woman, were also hospitalized with injuries that appeared to be non-life threatening.
The cause of the crash is under investigation.
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