'Still spinning': Bystanders lift taxi off people pinned under it in Manhattan
MIDTOWN, Manhattan (PIX11) – Bystanders who saw a yellow taxi hit six pedestrians near Herald Square on Christmas Day helped lift the vehicle off them, video showed.
The 58-year-old driver of the taxi suffered a medical episode, which led him to drive onto the sidewalk near Macy's at West 34th Street and 6th Avenue around 4 p.m., according to authorities.
A video taken minutes after the crash showed witnesses jumping into action to rescue a 9-year-old boy and a 41-year-old woman pinned underneath the taxi.
"The driver never hit the brakes," Ryan Tucker, a tourist who helped the victims, told PIX11 News. "As we got up there, everything was still spinning. The little boy's leg was underneath the tire, just spinning and smoking. So, a couple of gentlemen got the car off… we kind of lifted it back, where we were able to pull the boy out."
A 19-year-old girl, a 37-year-old woman and two 49-year-old women were also injured.
The tourist told PIX11 News that the 41-year-old woman who was pinned under the car was awake and coherent the entire time. She was communicating with her son, the 9-year-old boy, the tourist said.
Erin Pflaumer is a digital content producer from Long Island who has covered both local and national news since 2018. She joined PIX11 in 2023. See more of her work here.