Five children ranging in age from 8 to 17 years old died in a fiery early morning crash in New York on Sunday.
Their vehicle veered off the Hutchinson River Parkway in Scarsdale, crashed into a tree and caught fire, police said.
The only survivor, a 9-year-old boy, was taken to Westchester Medical Center with what police called non-life-threatening injuries. He had apparently been riding in a hatchback or cargo area and escaped out the back of the vehicle.
Westchester County Police said a 16-year-old boy was likely driving the Nissan Rogue.
Police said the children who died, four males and one female, are all from Connecticut and that family members were being notified.
The crash happened about 12:20 a.m., police said. No other vehicles were involved.
Family had just moved to Connecticut
Police said the crash remains under investigation. A spokesperson said it was not yet clear where the vehicle was coming from or where it was heading. Police did not expect that the identities of the victims would be released Sunday.
A school superintendent about 50 miles north of Scarsdale in Connecticut said he believed the children were part of a family that recently moved to the New Haven County area from New York but had not enrolled in the district.
Matt Conway, the superintendent in Derby, Connecticut, said he reached out to the father on Sunday and offered to provide him information about support available in the community for him and his family. He planned to talk with the father again on Monday.
“It’s the unimaginable,” Conway said, according to the AP. “Having to now make arrangements for five of your children to be buried is a very difficult thing for anyone – one child, never mind five that you’re going to have to now make arrangements for.”
Contributing: Associated Press
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