Heart-pounding footage captured the moment a runaway cab barreled into two pedestrians outside a Manhattan bodega – launching one into the basement and hurling the other onto the sidewalk.
Two women, who miraculously survived the violent crash, were walking on a sidewalk along Rivington Street near Essex Street Friday afternoon when they stopped outside a Deli Grocery and were suddenly rammed into by an out-of-control taxi, according to shocking security video obtained by WABC.
Both women were thrown onto the hood of the cab, which then slammed into the front of the bodega, sending shards of glass, flowers, and debris strewn across the Lower East Side street.
The impact blasted one woman down the basement stairs outside the corner shop, while the other was left lying on the pavement, startled witnesses told the outlet.
“I was eating right next door, two girls were walking and this cab lost control, hit the two girls,” one witness said.
“One girl fell to the right of the cab, the other fell down through the basement. It was crazy. I was actually talking to the girl… in the basement on the other side of the taxi cause her friend said ‘have you seen my friend?’ We tried calling her name and then we heard a little whisper, ‘I’m right here, I’m right here!”
The witness and the victim’s friend continued talking to her until police arrived.
Neighboring businesses were left stunned by the crash, initially fearing the cab had hit them. One reported seeing smoke billowing from the vehicle, while another called the incident “scary.”
Passenger Brenna was riding in the cab when it suddenly careened out of control.
“Everything was normal, and then all of the sudden, we hit the flower shop,” she told the outlet.
“We had no idea what happened and then we came out and saw someone was on the ground and we saw someone was under the car.”
Three people were transported to the hospital and are expected to recover, the FDNY said.
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