3 people die in crash in central Las Vegas

Las Vegas police are investigating a multiple-vehicle crash that killed three people and injured seven others in the central valley Wednesday afternoon.

Police said the three pedestrians died after the crash, reported about 3:10 p.m. near Eastern Avenue and Flamingo Road.

“This is a terrible, terrible crash,” Metro spokesman Larry Hadfield told reporters at the scene. Hadfield confirmed three people died in the crash, but he did not have information on their ages.

Seven people — two in critical condition— were hospitalized, he said. One of the people transported was the driver of an involved vehicle, and Hadfield said the driver may have been impaired.

Cynthia Robinson, one of the drivers involved in the crash, remained at the scene.

She said she was sitting inside her gold Honda sedan at a red light when a pickup truck in front of her backed into her sedan. She said the pickup in front of her obstructed her view of the scene in front of her.

“I just heard a big explosion,” Robinson said.

She said her car was in the northbound center lane of Eastern Avenue.

She said she had some mild chest pains from the crash but didn’t require hospitalization.

Shortly after the crash, she attempted to get out of her car, but arriving officers told her to stay inside.

Police documented the debris, bodies and cars in the intersection while passers-by gawked near the tape Wednesday evening. A pedestrian walk signal beeped, betraying the otherwise silent scene.

Restaurants and small businesses occupy the northeast, northwest and southwest corners of Eastern and Flamingo. A Catholic church marked the southeast corner of the intersection.

A neighbor, Kris Jayona, said some of the traffic was diverted into his neighborhood on Channel 10 Drive. He said police had similarly directed traffic for a deadly crash near the intersection a few weeks ago. In that crash, a taxicab hit and killed a bicyclist at Flamingo Road and Euclid Street.

“That’s how I know that if there’s something going on here (that’s) bad, people go through here,” Jayona said, motioning back toward the houses behind a fast-food restaurant at the intersection.

Several volunteer counselors with the Trauma Intervention Program were dispatched to the scene.

The intersection remained closed in all directions until just before midnight when police began opening roads that had been closed in the area.

Contact Mike Shoro at mshoro@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5290. Follow @mike_shoro on Twitter.