Rush hour smash in Shanghai kills five, injures nine
- Driver runs two red lights in busy traffic, hitting vehicles and pedestrians, in city centre
Five people died and nine were injured when a car ran two red lights in a row during morning rush hour in Shanghai on Thursday.
The driver, a 63-year-old local resident surnamed Chen, was among the injured and was in intensive care. Local police said he had been driving normally along Jinshajiang Road when he ran a red light at an intersection, grazing a taxi and an electric bicycle, at around 9.20am near the Daduhe Road subway station.
Police said that, instead of pulling over, Chen had speeded up and rammed through the next intersection of Daduhe Road and Jinshajiang Road, about 100 metres away. His vehicle collided with a car which was turning right, after hitting three electric bicycles and a number of pedestrians.
According to police, Chen had left his son’s home, in his daughter-in-law’s car, at around 9am.
Surveillance footage circulating online showed a white car driving along Jinshajiang Road before dashing through the second junction, against the traffic lights, and into the moving vehicles and pedestrians on Daduhe Road according to the traffic light.