On Sunday morning, a tragic accident occurred in Scarsdale, New York, resulting in the death of five children. The children, ranging in age from 8 to 17 years old, were riding in a Nissan Rogue when it veered off the Hutchinson River Parkway and crashed into a tree, bursting into flames.
The only survivor of the crash was a 9-year-old boy, who was taken to Westchester Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries. He had apparently been riding in the 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 car, and that the children who died were all from Connecticut. Family members were being notified, and the identities of the victims were not expected to be released on Sunday.
Matt Conway, the superintendent of a school district in Derby, Connecticut, about 50 miles north of Scarsdale, 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. 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.
The cause of the crash remains under investigation, and it is not yet clear where the vehicle was coming from or where it was heading.
The tragedy has left the community in shock, and the father of the children in unimaginable grief. The superintendent expressed his condolences, saying, “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.”