WOODLAWN — The sound of crushed metal was apparent from a block away during a major car wreck Monday afternoon.
Children and several adults were injured when their vehicles collided outside of a fire station on the 1400 block of East 67th Street.
According to one eyewitness, a white van blew a stop sign and hit a sedan before another white van collided with the first.
"I panicked when I saw it," said Niki Earnest, an employee at European Foot and Ankle Clinic. "If [the sedan's driver] hadn't straightened [the sedan] out, [the sedan] would've come right through the store."
A DNAinfo.com Chicago reporter also witnessed the accident firsthand.
Earnest said inhabitants of one of the van attempted to flee immediately after the wreck. Inhabitants of both vans could be seen running from the vehicles moments after the wreck.
One adult was sent to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in serious-to-critical condition, fire officials said.
Three adults were in fair-to-serious condition and four children were in good condition, fire officials said. They were sent to the University of Chicago Hospitals, Comer Children's Hospital, Jackson Park Hospital and Medical Center and St. Bernard Hospital.
One group ran into a nearby fire station for medical help, while another went to chase those they believed to be responsible.
Dozens of onlookers gathered on the corner following the wreck. According to the Chicago Fire Department, six ambulances were sent to the site.
