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Tesla tragedy: Woman killed as car flips, goes up in flames in Manhattan
Yet another fiery Tesla wreck cost a female driver her life on the FDR Drive in Manhattan early Tuesday morning.
A woman driver was reportedly pronounced dead at the scene after she and her passenger were ejected from a Tesla vehicle on the FDR Drive in Manhattan, NYC. The cause of the crash has yet to be revealed.
Per several US media reports, the unimaginable tragedy occurred early Tuesday as the car struck a guardrail and flipped on the FDR Drive near 70th Street on the Upper East Side. According to the NYPD, the accident took place just after 2:30 am, and the Tesla even burst into flames on the scene.
Heart-dropping snaps of the aftermath show the shattered remains of what was once a car. Due to the electric car catching fire, only the inner framework remains, revealing a hollow view of the vehicle. The front end of the car also came apart, with huge chunks lying elsewhere.
Speeding suspected as the cause of the NYC Tesla crash
Witnesses claimed to have witnessed the Tesla speeding before crashing into the guardrail, according to the Daily Mail. A local even told Eyewitness News that the electric car was going “at least 120, 130 mph” before the fiery wreck. “And then when he hit the other car, the damage was just so much that it split in half. And that just started going on fire,” he said.
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At least 60 firefighters and an FDNY hazmat team were on the scene to extinguish the car's lithium-ion battery. In the meantime, the busy NYC highway's northbound lanes were closed for several miles. Fire crews finally put out the fire by 3:50 am, per NY Daily News.
The deceased victim hasn't been identified yet. Meanwhile, the 26-year-old male passenger who survived the blazing crash was rushed to New York Presbyterian Hospital - Cornell. Authorities said that he is in a stable condition.
This is an ongoing investigation.
