A 15-year-old girl lost control and crashed a stolen SUV Friday on a New York highway, killing three of the teenage passengers, police said. (New York State Police / Facebook)
Three teenagers were ejected and killed from a stolen SUV on Friday when an underage driver lost control of the speeding vehicle on a New York highway and it rolled over several times, authorities said.
Nine teenagers and an infant were packed inside the Chevy Trailblazer as it erratically sped and swerved in and out of traffic on Long Island’s Meadowbrook Parkway just before noon, New York State Police said at a news conference.
The driver was a 15-year-old girl from Uniondale, a Nassau County suburb about 30 miles from Manhattan, FOX 5 New York reported.
Police identified the victims as the driver’s brother, David Sanchez, 13, the vehicle owner’s son, Marlon Carbajal, 15, and Herbert Leo Avilles-Maravilla, 16, Newsday reported.
Two of the teens were found dead at the scene, while the third died at a hospital, the New York Post reported.
The driver, five other teens between ages 13 and 18, and the 18-month-old infant survived with non-life threatening injuries, police said.
The Uniondale School District wrote in an online post they were “heartbroken over the tragic loss of young lives from our community” and offered their condolences to the families.
“The vehicle did lose control, overturned several times and came to final rest on the west shoulder into the marsh.”
“The vehicle did lose control, overturned several times and came to final rest on the west shoulder into the marsh,” said Maj. David Candelaria.
Investigators flew helicopters over the wreckage in search of bodies, FOX 5 said. The accident closed a stretch of southbound lanes for several hours.
The Chevy Trailblazer, reported stolen Thursday from the nearby town of Roosevelt, did not have enough seatbelts to safely fit all of the passengers, FOX 5 reported.
Police were investigating to determine the how fast the vehicle was going.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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