7 Dead After SUV Accident at Bronx Zoo
Seven people were killed instantly on Sunday after a horrifying accident which occurred on the Bronx parkway near the Bronx Zoo at about 12:30 p.m.
A mother lost control of her SUV which hit the median and crossed back over two lanes of traffic before bouncing over the guardrail and landing in the Bronx Zoo, according to the New York Post.
Maria "Fina" Gonzalez, a Fordham University staffer, was driving her 10-year-old daughter, 85-year-old father, 81-year-old mother, 35-year-old sister and two nieces, ages three and seven, to a family reunion at her sister's Bronx home before her speeding SUV flew over a highway guardrail and plunged 60 feet.
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"I lost my family! What can I say? I don't want to be here. I want to die!" grieving father and husband to Maria, Juan Gonzalez, 45, told The Post.
The SUV landed upside down in some bushes in an area that is a safe distance away from the zoo's animal exhibits and pedestrian walkways.
"Only God knows what happened … I lost my mom, my dad, my sisters and my nieces," Gonzalez's brother-in-law, Ignacio Nunez, 64, said.
The vehicle was reportedly traveling in the left lane at about 70 mph in a 50-mph zone before it suddenly veered into the center divider.
"They flew right over the guardrail, didn't even touch it," a law-enforcement source said.
While police are still investigating what exactly went wrong, critics suspect that speed likely contributed to the tragic accident.
Police Commissioner Ray Kelly tried to explain how the SUV landed on its roof with its passengers trapped inside, all wearing their seat belts.
"We believe that the driver … struck the Jersey barrier, and in reacting and trying to correct, turned right, went through the barrier and dropped," Kelly said.
The Bronx zoo is the world's largest metropolitan zoo, and is home to more than 600 animal species.
