One person was killed when the driver of a car lost control on Collins Avenue and slammed into a bus stop bench Sunday night in Sunny Isles Beach, police said.
The 911 calls started pouring in just after 8 p.m.
Officials said a van was headed north on Collins Avenue when it veered onto the sidewalk and struck two adults and two children standing near the bus stop.
"I went southbound and I saw a body laying here, covered in the yellow tarp, and I saw a baby stroller here," witness Michael Schnitzler said. "It made me cry. It's -- it's a tragedy."
Police said one of the adults was pronounced dead at the scene. The rest of the victims were airlifted to area hospitals.
Schnitzler, who lives nearby, said a valet attendant told him he heard the children crying out for help after the crash.
"He told me that right after the accident, he heard people screaming, and a baby crying, 'Mommy, Mommy,'" Schnitzler said.
Though it's unclear what caused the driver of the vehicle to lose control, that person remained at the scene and is cooperating, investigators said.
The northbound lanes of Collins Avenue were closed from 163rd Street to 178th Street for hours after the crash.
UPDATE!!!!!!!!!!!
Amir Pelleg, his wife Zulma, and their young daughters Aviva and Ariella had gone to the Gilbert Samson Oceanfront Park across from their Sunny Isles Beach home on Sunday evening and were waiting at a bus stop to cross Collins Avenue at 174th at approximately 8 PM when they were hit by a driver in his mid twenties.
Pelleg, a 33 year old associate legal counsel for Kayne Anderson Real Estate, died of his injuries. Zulma Pelleg and her two daughters were airlifted to local hospitals with serious injuries but are expected to recover.
The driver of the late model Honda Odyssey was identified as 26-year-old Joseph Franco, according to ABC News (http://bit.ly/2z6obri). Franco remained on scene and tested negative for alcohol. The Sunny Isles Beach Police Department is continuing its investigation of the crash, including whether the driver may have been distracted when the accident occurred.
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