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The crash occurred around 6 a.m., Monday, Jan. 1 on the northbound Cross Island Parkway in Queens in the area of Exit 36S, said the NYPD.
A preliminary investigation determined that a blue 2018 Mazda sedan was traveling northbound on the Whitestone Expressway approaching the southbound exit ramp to the Cross Island Parkway when the 24-year-old driver struck and traversed the center median onto the northbound lanes of the Cross Island Parkway, police said.
A white 2023 Honda Pilot SUV was traveling onto the exit ramp from the northbound Cross Island Parkway to the Whitestone Expressway, when the Mazda landed into the path of travel of the Honda, striking the Honda.
The operator of the Mazda and its four passengers were pronounced deceased at the scene by EMS.
Those killed in the Mazda, all from Queens, except the driver, have been identified as:
- Kazeem Ramsahai (driver), age 24, of Raeford, North Carolina
- Jordy Bentances, age 20/man
- Mario Ocampo, age 30/man
- Salma Garcia-Diaz, age 23/woman
- Dayanara Benitez-Ocampo, age 19/man
The 63-year-old male operator of the Honda was removed by EMS to New York-Presbyterian Queens Hospital with neck and back injuries and is listed in critical but stable condition, NYPD said.
There are no arrests and the investigation remains ongoing.
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