2 dead, 4 hurt in Washington Heights crash involving alleged stolen vehicle

Two people are dead and four others were injured in an early Monday morning crash in Washington Heights that flipped one of the vehicles involved onto its side, police say.

The crash happened just before 7 a.m. on West 179th Street and Audubon Avenue.

Video from the scene shows passersby attempting to help, bending down and trying to tend to those trapped in a Hyundai Elantra that struck parked cars and a Jeep before flipping onto its side.

According to police, there were five people inside that vehicle: two of them were pronounced dead and the other three were hospitalized, with one taken to Columbia in critical condition and two taken to Harlem Hospital Center also in critical condition, according to police. One had been ejected out of the car by the force of the crash.

"The guy was already half way out so the construction worker pulled him out and then everyone was like don't touch him," Jonathan Perez said.

One person inside the Jeep is also recovering from injuries sustained in the crash, although it is unclear if they were hospitalized or the extent of their injuries.

The impact of the crash was so loud that residents in the neighborhood ran towards the scene to try to help.

"Two of them was [sic] passed out," witness Jonathan Pérez said. "They didn't even look to be alive, to be honest. On of them was only moving and standing."

Law enforcement sources familiar with the matter tell News 4 New York that the Hyundai Elantra was stolen. Police say the vehicle was reported stolen one month ago.

The crash had shut down traffic in the surrounding area of the crash on Audubon Avenue between West 179th and West 180th streets. The impact of the collision totaled several of the cars parked nearby.