1 dead in Qns. pileup
5 hospitalized in seven-car wreck on the Van Wyck
One man died and five people were injured in a massive car wreck on the Van Wyck Expressway in Queens early Saturday, authorities said.
Seven vehicles were involved in the crash in the Van Wyck’s northbound lanes near exit 12 in Jamaica, which left mangled cars and trucks on both sides of the highway.
The carnage began about 4:15 a.m. when a 29-year-old man in a 2011 Chevrolet sideswiped a 2012 Acura sedan driven by a 27-year-old woman.
The woman lost control of her car, hit a median and crossed into the southbound lanes.
There the woman’s car struck a Jeep Cherokee and then was struck by a Ford pickup truck belonging to a Department of Homeland Security K-9 unit, said police. No dogs were in the K-9 truck, said officials.
A 2011 Honda sedan also traveling southbound was struck by flying debris.
Jairo Castano, 38, of Spring Creek Towers in Brooklyn, was a passenger inside the overturned Acura and died at the scene, cops said. The woman who was driving the Acura was taken to New York Presbyterian Hospital-Queens, where she was listed in stable condition.
The motorist who struck her kept going and slammed into a Toyota SUV before sailing into a BMW.
Medics took him and his passenger, a 36-year-old man, to New York Presbyterian Hospital-Queens with non-lifethreatening injuries, cops said. His name was not disclosed.
Saturday night, cops were still trying to determine what caused the 29-yearold driver to swerve into Castano’s car.
Alcohol did not appear to be a factor, a source with knowledge of the case said.
A 43-year-old man driving the Homeland Security truck was also taken to New York Presbyterian Hospital-Queens with minor injuries.
The 48-year-old man driving the Jeep Cherokee was removed to Jamaica Hospital, where he was in stable condition.
No charges were immediately filed against any of the seven drivers.