By Christina Santucci
A 32-year-old motorcyclist and his unidentified female passenger were both killed when the bike they were riding on slammed into an SUV making a U-turn in Astoria Saturday afternoon, police said.
Emergency responders, who were called at about 4:30 p.m. to the collision at 20th Avenue and 24th Street, pronounced both the male motorcycle driver and his rider dead at the scene, the NYPD said.
A 56-year-old woman who had been behind the wheel of the Nissan Xterra SUV was taken to Elmhurst Hospital, where she was listed in stable condition, according to cops.
“My sister, she heard a loud bang,” said 16-year-old Christian, who lives nearby and came upon the crash’s aftermath.
“I saw a lady on the ground and a man on the ground and they were both already dead,” he said. “After that you saw the family members start to come in.”
The teen described a distraught relative of one of the accident victims’ fainting and being taken away in an ambulance.
A woman, who knew the motorcyclist and his passenger and declined to be identified, said, “They were good people, and it’s a shame they are gone.”
Reach Managing Editor Christina Santucci by phone at 718-260-4589 or by email at timesledgerphotos@gmail.com.
