Another shot of the dramatic crash (G.N. Miller/NY Post)
A drag-racing Mercedes slammed into a van loaded with passengers headed to the airport this morning on Sixth Avenue, police said.
At least five people were taken to Bellevue Hospital, sources said, but officials are still determining the full extent of injuries suffered at the crash near Radio City Music Hall at 4:45 am.
One of the injured was pinned under wreckage, and about 15 Good Samaritans had to lift chunks of metal off the victim, witnesses said.
The driver of the Mercedes — 27-year-old Jersey City resident Imran Ahmed — was arrested and charged with with vehicular assault and operating under the influence, law enforcement sources said.
The Mercedes was heading west on 50th Street and the van was going north on Sixth Avenue when it was broadsided, witnesses said.
“I was driving up Sixth Avenue and I just heard an explosion. I saw the van on its side and about six people who got thrown out were being crushed underneath it,” said a witness who helped the trapped victim get out from under wreckage.
“Honestly I don’t know if they’re going to survive,” he added. “It was the loudest explosion – all I saw was the big van, and I just heard it screeching.”
Additional reporting by David K. Li