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1-Year-Old Girl Seriously Hurt in Queens Car Crash

By  Ben Fractenberg and Julie  Shapiro | November 26, 2012 4:18pm | Updated on November 26, 2012 9:33pm

WOODHAVEN — A 1-year-old girl was seriously hurt in a car crash in Queens Monday afternoon, officials said.

A minivan carrying the child slammed into the side of a black Honda owned by a local driving school at 102nd Street and 91st Avenue just before 2 p.m., officials said.

The young girl, who was not in a child car seat, was rushed to Jamaica Hospital in serious condition and was later transferred to North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System, where she was in stable condition Monday evening, officials and sources said.

Police issued a summons to the driver of the minivan for not having a car seat for the girl, an NYPD spokeswoman said.

The Honda, which belonged to the D & E Driving School, was heading north on 102nd Street when the van slammed into its side, said Injoy Islam, 21, the driving school's owner, who raced to the scene after hearing of the crash.

Islam said he saw emergency responders perform CPR before taking the child to the hospital.

The driving school instructor, Jahirul Islam, no relation to Injoy Islam, was driving the Honda, according to the driving school owner. Jahirul Islam was not injured and did not receive a summons from police, Injoy Islam said.

It was not immediately clear who had the right of way at the intersection, which has a four-way stoplight.

Witnesses said they were alarmed to see that there was no baby seat in the back of the van.

"Once I saw the child did not have a booster seat, I just knew the child had to be very injured," Islam said. "Those injuries are very bad."

Kim Minerva, 40, who lives at the intersection where the accident happened, said she heard the crash and saw the child lying on the ground.

"I saw a baby on the floor," Minerva said. "It was very limp."

A woman who identified herself to Minerva as the child's grandmother shook the girl in an attempt to revive her, Minerva said.

Responders raced the child to the hospital before the ambulance even arrived, Minerva said.

"I'm going to have nightmares," she said.