BOSTON — A box truck was seen racing down a busy Boston street moments before it crashed and toppled over on a sidewalk in front of a restaurant, injuring six people during the lunchtime rush on Tuesday.
Surveillance video shared with Boston 25 News showed the yellow Penske rental truck speeding down Kneeland Street in the city’s Chinatown section just after 12:45 p.m. before it jumped a curb, struck multiple pedestrians, and slammed into a building housing a ramen restaurant.
During a late afternoon news conference, Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden said that his office “doesn’t have any reason to believe that this was an intentional act, but an investigation into what led up to the crash remained under investigation Wednesday morning.
The city’s top cop described the crash as a “tragic accident.”
“A preliminary investigation seems to indicate this a tragic accident more than anything else,” Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox said.
A total of six people were hurt in the wreck, including one person who was eating inside the restaurant. The driver of the truck was also left pinned in the wreckage and had to be removed by firefighters.
Four people, including the driver, were taken to the hospital after the crash. One person remains in critical condition. Two people were treated at the scene and refused transport.
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Witnesses likened the sound from the impact of the crash to a “bomb going off.”
The area was closed to traffic for hours after the crash as detectives collected evidence, cleaned up debris from the road, and worked to upright the truck.
A Penske spokesperson told Boston 25 News that the truck involved in the crash was out on rent to a commercial trucking company.
Investigators haven’t identified the driver.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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