Grieving kin hurt in funeral smashup
A limousine carrying mourners during a funeral procession in Queens plowed into a bodega after getting cut off by a minivan yesterday — injuring 16 people, including the deceased’s daughter and granddaughter.
The motorcade was headed to Pinelawn Cemetery in Long Island around 11:30 a.m. to bury 94-yearold Delores Godfrey when the minivan clipped the back of a Ford Expedition and struck the limo on Guy R. Brewer Boulevard.
The limousine driver swerved away from the minivan onto the sidewalk, hitting a wall adjacent to Mega Mini Market, 144-12 Guy R. Brewer Blvd., witnesses said.
“It just happened so quickly. All I remember is someone hitting us and I just flew into the window,” said granddaughter Falana Fray, 35, who was treated for a minor head injury at Jamaica Hospital.
Her aunt, Jeanette Godfrey, also suffered a head wound, and needed stitches on her left eyelid.
Family members Monica Thomas, 78, Karl Godfrey, 65, Joanne Godfrey, 62, and Merna Malcolm were treated at Long Island Jewish Hospital.
Sarabjit Kaun, who owns the mini market struck by the limousine, was treated at the scene.
Also hospitalized with less serious injuries were the drivers of the Buick and the limousine.
Fray’s brother, 29-year-old Casey Gill, was driving ahead of his grandmother’s funeral procession when he received a call telling him to turn around. The scene he found was absolute mayhem.
“My aunt was bleeding from her head, and my sister was on a stretcher calling my name,” Gill said.
“The hearse was parked right there while all of her children were lying there, hurt, with the rest of the family around crying. It hurts to see all of this tragedy.”
Gill said witnesses told him the driver of the minivan was a young woman using her cellphone.
“They all came in to see my grandmother be put to rest — and because of a young, ignorant girl, that can’t happen,” he added.
The driver, who was also taken to Jamaica Hospital, later apologized to the family.