Five kids from Connecticut were killed in a fiery late-night crash on a New York parkway when their car struck a tree, officials said Sunday.
The car was packed with six kids, the oldest 17 years old, traveling down the Hutchinson River Parkway in Westchester County around 12:20 a.m. when the crash occurred.
A county statement said the car "veered" off the parkway before striking a tree and catching fire north of the Mamaroneck Road exit. No other cars appeared to be involved.
The circumstances surrounding the crash were still under investigation, but officials had determined that five of the occupants died.
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Officials said the victims range in age from 8 years old to 17; four boys and one girl. The driver was a 16-year-old.
A sixth passenger, only 9 years old, survived. He had been riding in the back of the Nissan Rogue and managed to escape out the rear of the car, according to investigators. Emergency responders took him to Westchester Medical Center where he was being treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
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Matt Conway, the superintendent of schools in Derby, Connecticut, said he learned the children were part of a family that recently moved to the New Haven County community from New York but had not enrolled in the district. Conway said he reached out to the father on Sunday and offered to provide him information about available supports in the community for him and his family. He planned to talk with the father again on Monday.
“It’s the unimaginable. Having to now make arrangements for five of your children to be buried is a very difficult thing for anyone — one child, never mind five that you’re going to have to now make arrangements for,” Conway said.
