An SUV carrying a Haitian senator in the U.S. on a hurricane relief fund-raising mission blew through the window of an Upper West Side restaurant after colliding with a yellow taxi this afternoon, police said.
Five people in a Honda Pilot SUV carrying Haitian senator Cemethyse Gilles, 43, were sent to St. Luke’s Hospital with minor injuries after the vehicle was sent careening into the Indus Valley restaurant on the corner on Broadway near W. 100th Street around 2:30 p.m, cops said.
A passenger in the cab, who was also injured, was treated at the same hospital.
Remarkably neither Gilles nor anyone inside the restaurant, which had its façade pulverized, were injured.
Gilles said the five people in the car were her cousins. She said they were coming from a fund-raising event in New Jersey trying to raise money related to two hurricanes, Ike and Hanna, and a tropical storm, Gustav, which have devastated her country over the past three months.
Eric Pooley, 36, was nearby when he heard, “a big crash” followed by “tires squealing.”
“The SUV went right into the restaurant,” he said.
The owner of the Indian restaurant said that as the SUV crashed through the wall there were two women sitting at table and narrowly avoided injury.
“They had to jump up and run away,” said the owner.