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Uber Car Hops Curb and Plows Into Mom and 4 Kids, Officials Say

By  Trevor Kapp and Aidan Gardiner | September 30, 2015 9:22am | Updated on September 30, 2015 6:32pm

 A Uber driver lost control of his car and hopped the curb, striking the group of five, police said.
A Uber driver lost control of his car and hopped the curb, striking the group of five, police said.
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DNAinfo/Trevor Kapp

FORDHAM — An out-of-control Uber taxi jumped the curb and hit a woman walking with her 8-year-old daughter, 5 year old son and two other children in The Bronx Wednesday morning, officials said.

The children, two boys and two girls whose ages ranged from 5 to 11, were walking with the 33-year-old mom near 229 E. Kingsbridge Road, near Valentine Avenue, about 7:45 a.m. when the driver lost control of his Toyota Camry, according to FDNY and NYPD officials.

Neighbors raced to the children, at least one whom was trapped under the mangled Uber. Other victims were lying beside it, they said.

"[One boy] was breathing hard. He was crying. He was so afraid. He just wanted to hold his mommy's hand," said Nilda Guerrero, 57.

Guerrero clasped his hands and tried to encourage him, she said.

"I told him, "Look at me! You're going to be fine!'" Guerrero said.

"He tried to move his right leg, but it was too painful," she added.

Others tried to help as well.

"The girl was under the car. She was on the driver's side. Two guys tried to lift the car up, but they couldn't. It was too heavy," said Migdalia Morales, 42.

Firefighters eventually came and used a jack to lift the Uber, witnesses said.

"They got her out, but she was hurt real bad. She said, 'I'm in pain! I'm in pain!'" Morales said.

The FDNY initially listed two of the kids' condition as critical, but the NYPD later said that all the victims had stabilized.

The 33-year-old woman, her 8-year-old daughter and her 5-year-old son were all treated at Jacobi Medical Center, police said. Their relationship with the other two children was not immediately available.

The mother suffered head, neck and back injuries while the girl suffered internal injuries and may have broken her leg, an NYPD spokesman said. The 5-year-old boy had some leg injuries, the spokesman said.

An 11-year-old boy was also treated at Jacobi for head trauma, police said.

And a 7-year-old girl was treated at St. Barnabas Hospital for knee abrasions, police said.

The driver, whose name and age were not immediately released, remained at the scene and was not immediately arrested, police said.

The driver had been licensed with the Taxi and Limousine Commission since 1998, a spokesman said, and has been suspended pending the outcome of the investigation. 

He's worked for Uber's Schmecken base since April, the spokesman said.

He was not driving for Uber at the time of the accident, according to the company, and has been suspended from the service pending an investigation.  

“Our thoughts are with the victims of this tragic accident and we are assisting the city with its investigation," Uber spokeswoman Alix Anfang said.