Two people were killed and three others were injured in a car crash on the Hutchinson River Parkway in the Bronx Saturday morning, officials said.
The crash at around 7 a.m. involved multiple vehicles near Orchard Beach Road, according to the FDNY.
Police say the accident was touched off when the driver of an SUV lost control of his car and struck a guard rail on the Hutchinson River Parkway. They say the vehicle swerved back into the traffic lanes and struck a livery cab, killing both people. The livery cab then struck a third car.
Police identified the two victims in the livery cab who died as Ata Noorzi, 51, of Queens, and Patrick Sheehan, 54, of Larchmont, N.Y.
"It's a tragic accident but it could have been prevented," said Fernando Mateo, president of the Federation of Taxi Drivers, an organization that has been pushing for years for concrete medians on area roadways.
"If you run into a barricade the car just flips over, it doesn't cross over and chop off the top of an oncoming vehicle, and this is what happened in this case," said Mateo.
One of the people injured was in serious condition, while the other two had minor injuries, authorities said.
The driver of the SUV and the third vehicle were hospitalized.
