Detectives are investigating the cause of a six-car pileup on the Van Wyck Expressway near Flushing Meadows-Corona Park on Saturday morning that left one man dead and four others injured.
Police said the chain reaction crash occurred at about 4:15 a.m. on Aug. 18 along the northbound lanes of the expressway near the Jewel Avenue accident.
That’s where a Chevrolet Cruze SUV heading northbound on the rain-slicked highway collided with a Toyota Venza, which subsequently struck a BMW vehicle. Law enforcement sources said the Cruze then struck an Acura TL sedan, operated by a woman with a male passenger on board.
Apparently moving at a high rate of speed, authorities said, the Acura TL veered to the center of the roadway and slammed into a median, then flipped over the divider and landed on the Van Wyck Expressway’s southbound lanes.
Cops said the Acura was then struck by a white Ford pickup truck, belonging to the Transportation Security Administration, and a gray Jeep Cherokee, both of which were traveling southbound on the Van Wyck.
Officers from the 107th Precinct, the NYPD Highway Patrol and EMS units responded to the pileup. The Van Wyck Expressway was closed in both directions for several hours after the wreck.
Paramedics removed both occupants of the Acura: the female driver, who was hospitalized in stable condition, and a passenger, 38-year-old Jairo Castano of Pennsylvania Avenue in Brooklyn, who was pronounced dead at the scene.
Three other individuals involved in the crash were taken to local hospitals for treatment of their injuries.
This story was updated on Aug. 18 at 7:55 p.m.
