‘NIGHTMARE’ CRASH KILLS 3-YEAR-OLD
A 3-year-old boy was killed and his 4-year-old sister injured after being hit by a van in South Boston yesterday afternoon in what police Commissioner William B. Evans called “everybody’s worst nightmare.”
The woman pushing the carriage on L Street was “shaken up” but unharmed while the 4-year-old girl suffered non-life-threatening injuries, Evans added.
“My heart goes out to the parents,” Evans said. “A terrible tragedy here — it’s everybody’s worst nightmare.”
The accident at L and East Sixth streets began when a Toyota compact collided with a Chevy van, sending the van onto the sidewalk where the woman was believed to be pushing the carriage, police said.
“It’s the worst thing I’ve ever seen in reality,” said Susan Devlin, a nearby salon owner who came out after she heard the “very loud crash” and saw someone desperately trying to save the boy with CPR.
“We saw the baby carriage and a woman screaming and we knew there was children involved,” Devlin said. “When you see something like that — it’s just devastating. Seeing a child laying on the sidewalk was devastating.”
The street, which would have normally been lined with cars, was empty for a scheduled street cleaning from 1 to 5 p.m.
Many neighbors said safety must be on everyone’s mind.
“It’s terrible — there’s an accident every day on this street,” neighbor Kathy Davis said. “Cars trying to come out onto L Street and they’re going too goddam fast.”
Davis has lived on the street for about 20 years, she said, and has seen more traffic coming through South Boston over time.
It’s a “very busy street,” said Baileigh McCarthy, 19, who added she has lived in the area her entire life. She was walking home when she noticed the blocked-off road filled with police cruisers. “I’m not surprised that that happened,” McCarthy said. “People speed down the streets.”
Boston City Councilor Ed Flynn, who represents the district, said he is “very worried” about the safety of the streets.
“I had a chance to talk to both the commissioner and the mayor and I know it’s a priority for all of us to make our streets safer for everyone in this community,” Flynn said. “Our thoughts are with the victims and our prayers are with their families. We’re devastated as a community.”
Donna Symolon, who lives around the corner, added that people need to be careful on the roads in South Boston in general.
“I see neighbors walking kids in strollers so my mind has been wandering, could it be someone that I’ve seen before,” Symolon said. “I don’t know how you get through this. My prayers are just going to them and hopefully maybe some changes in the streets can happen as a result of this.”
As of last night, the victims’ identities had not been released by police and no charges had been filed in the accident.