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Two dead, multiple others injured in Bensonhurst car crash

One car involved in the crash ended up totaled on the sidewalk near a bus stop in Bensonhurst.
One car involved in the crash ended up totaled on the sidewalk near a bus stop.
Photo by Lloyd Mitchell

Two people are dead, and five others are injured after a diver blew through a red light and crashed his car in Bensonhurst on Monday afternoon. 

According to police, 49-year-old Vitaliy Konoplyov of a white sedan was speeding southbound on 18th Avenue when he ran the red light and smashed into a Honda HRV just before 1 p.m. near 64th Street. 

After the initial collision, the drivers of both cars lost control and went careening into pedestrians. 

First responders arrived on the scene of the carnage and rushed five injured victims to Maimonides hospital, where two of them died, and one remains in critical condition, cops said. 

One of the dead victims was the 51-year-old male operator of the other car, while the other was a 60-year-old female pedestrian. 

The black hatchback was left destroyed in the middle of 18th Avenue in Bensonhurst.
The black hatchback was left destroyed in the middle of 18th Avenue.Photo by Lloyd Mitchell

Paramedics also rushed two other individuals to NYU Langone Hospital, where they are expected to recover. 

Konoplyov, who initiated the devastation, remained on the scene, and was taken into custody by police. He was arrested and charged with two counts of manslaughter, along with unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle.  

Council Member Justin Brannan, who represents nearby Bay Ridge and Fort Hamilton, called for police to hold Konoplyov accountable “to the full extent of the law.”

“Anyone who knows this area well knows how crowded it can be with people in the middle of the day,” the pol tweeted. “A driver speeding and blowing red lights in a congested area without regard for anyone or anything must be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”

Horrified onlookers in Bensonhurst surveying the scene in the aftermath of the crash saw the white sedan that was thrown over a curb, which came to rest on the sidewalk of a bus stop with its truck completely totaled, and windshield smashed. 

Meanwhile, the second car involved in the crash, a black hatchback, ended up crumpled in the middle of the road.

A street lamp was knocked down in the wreckage in Bensonhurst.
A street lamp was knocked down in the wreckage.Photo by Lloyd Mitchell

The wreckage of the crash extended throughout Bensonhurst’s 18th Avenue, with a street lamp knocked to the ground, and shattered glass littering the sidewalk.  

The NYPD Highway Patrol is investigation thee scene of the crash.

For more coverage of Bensonhurst, head to BrooklynPaper.com.