Two Children Dead, Their Mothers Injured in Park Slope Car Crash

Two young children were killed and their two 34-year-old mothers were seriously injured when a driver ran into them on 9th Street, near the intersection of 5th Avenue in Park Slope, Brooklyn, officials said.

Emergency workers got a call for help at 12:41 p.m. and rushed the scene, according to police. A one-year-old child and a four-year-old child were declared dead on arrival at Methodist Hospital. The mothers, both 34, were in stable condition, though one suffered critical injuries.

Police say the driver was heading west on 9th Street, downhill, and crossed 5th Avenue when she hit the group of pedestrians. Several hours after the crash, the white sedan remained at the scene, rammed into a row of parked cars on the eastbound side of the street.

Police would not say whether the car was obeying traffic laws or whether the pedestrians were in the crosswalk. The driver, a woman who was in police custody at the scene, has not yet been arrested.

Mayor Bill de Blasio, himself a Park Slope resident, mentioned the fatal collision at an unrelated press conference Monday afternoon.

"This loss of life is tragic and painful, particularly for those of us who are parents," he said. "But it's another reminder of why we have to redouble our efforts of Vision Zero, to work to the day when this never happens to any family."

A man was killed at that same intersection in 2016, according to Vision Zero statistics.