A teenager was killed and four college students were injured when a driver lost control of his vehicle this morning in a busy area of Long Island City, cops said.
The group was struck when the driver of a 2002 Dodge Caravan traveling east on Thomson Avenue lost control and jumped the curb near 30th Street, just outside of LaGuardia Community College, killing 16-year-old Tenzin Drudak, authorities said.
The other four pedestrians were students at LaGuardia Community College, according to a school spokeswoman. They were taken to Elmhurst Hospital in stable condition.
“He [the driver] hit five people and the car kept going till it hit a tree,” said LCC student Branden Gonzalez, 20. “The driver stepped out of the van, not a scratch on him.”
Drudak, a student at Applied Communications High School, died of his injuries at Elmhurst Hospital, according to police.
“I immediately called the police and ran to help,” Gonzalez said. “The student who died was bleeding all over his face. I told him everything will be okay, but he was unresponsive.”
The unidentified driver was taken into police custody but has not been charged with a crime.
Students said the stretch of Thomson Avenue where Drudak was killed is known as the “Intersection of death.”
“Cars come at you from three different ways, said LCC student Silvana Barisa, 23. “Students always try to cross here, but it’s definitely cross at your own risk.”