PHILADELPHIA — Two men forced a woman into the backseat of her sport utility vehicle at gunpoint, drove off but later lost control and plowed into a group of people on a corner near a fruit stand in Philadelphia on Friday, police said.
Two children were killed and three other people were critically injured.
The woman was carjacked about a mile away from the scene of the accident in the Tioga section of north Philadelphia, where the car jumped a curb, homicide Capt. James Clark said.
“Something obviously went horribly wrong at this intersection,” he said. “The vehicle went out of control.”
One of the children was pronounced dead at the scene and another at a hospital, Clark said.
Another young person was reported in critical condition, and the woman and another adult were also listed as critical in different hospitals, police said.
Police didn’t say how the woman was injured.
The two men fled the scene on foot and are being sought. Officials said a $40,000 reward was being offered, $20,000 for each victim of what were classified as homicides.
Police asked businesses with surveillance cameras in the area to provide footage and asked anyone with information in the case to come forward.