Eight injured in fiery Brookline crash

(TuBoston.com / El Planeta)

By James Vaznis, Globe Staff

Eight people were injured today in a fiery crash in Brookline. The injured included five children, ranging in age from six months to 10 years old, and three adults, two of whom were in critical condition, police said.

The accident happened at about 5 p.m. at Babcock and Harvard Streets in the Coolidge Corner area, said Police Captain John O'Leary. Based on a preliminary investigation, O'Leary said, police believe that three cars in motion were involved, along with one or two parked cars.

O'Leary said local residents and store employees raced to help the injured in the moments after the accident.

At least one car burst into flames and an elderly woman had to be removed from it by the Jaws of Life as the fire burned. She was one of the two critically injured adults. The third adult and the children received non-life-threatening injuries.

Rowena Delrosario, a teller at the Citizens Bank at the corner, said she saw the crash. "I heard a big, loud noise like a big bomb," she said. "I was really shocked. I couldn't move."

A Brookline fire station is only a block away from the accident scene.

"I was praying they could come right over," said Delrosario. Rescuers arrived quickly, she said.

Mark Miller of Brookline said he was walking to pick up his daughter at an after-school program.

"I heard a screech, a thump, a scream," he said. "Very quickly after impact there were flames."

He said he saw people run into area businesses and grab fire extinguishers to use on the burning vehicles, but they had no success with them.

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