A chain reaction crash involving an idling van and a Souvlaki stand left two people hurt in Queens.
Thinking the vehicle was in park, a 29-year-old man hopped out of the driver’s seat near 32nd Street and Broadway in Astoria at about 2 p.m. and then watched in horror as it suddenly rolled back and struck an 80-year-old woman who was walking with groceries and a 71-year-old man who was operating the Greek food cart, according to police.
Pork and lamb kebabs went flying as the unoccupied vehicle smashed into the stand’s cooking area.
The unidentified male and female were rushed to Elmhurst Hospital, with the woman in critical condition and the man in stable condition, cops said.
Witnesses told The Post that the van had come across Broadway in reverse — nailing the woman as she tried to cross the street. It finally came to a halt after smashing into the Souvlaki cart and a wall of a Capitol One bank.
“The van just comes across, [it happened] so fast,” recalled Stavros Constantinou, 63. “So fast, the people didn’t have time to move, and boom! The lady is on the ground and she looked really bad, not good at all. And the man at the stand, the van went right over him and you can see he is in pain.”
Jonathan Pineda, a 25-year-old delivery worker, sad the crash unfolded in mere seconds.
“I notice the van pull up and the guy gets out, but I don’t pay attention,” he said. “A few seconds later, I see out of the corner of my eye something move quick and it’s the van and it goes right across and hit those two people. So sad, it happened before anyone could even react.”
In addition to the elderly man and woman, a fire department spokesman said another person was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital Queens with minor injuries.
The owner of the van was not taken into custody following the accident. Cops are continuing to investigate.
“I can’t believe this,” said Tina Fletcher, 29, another witness. “Like you’re just trying to run errands and go about your business, and then a freak accident like this. It’s like they say, to live life to the fullest, not to live in fear or anything because you can literally just step outside and something happens and it’s over.”