1 Killed, 2 Seriously Injured in Taxi Crash on Near North Side

Officials unclear as to why cab driver lost control

A 31-year-old Chicago man was killed Tuesday morning when he was struck by an out-of-control taxi cab that crashed into a light pole and flipped four times.

Eric Kerestes, of the 600 block of North Racine Avenue, was thrown from the impact and found in the parking lot of a nearby CVS pharmacy. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

The cab driver was helped from his vehicle just as it began to catch fire, a witness said. A passenger was able to get out on his own.

"[The cab] was heading south on Milwaukee and I saw him hit the light pole and flipped like four times," said Dan Faraci. "The passenger -- he had a passenger -- he was getting out of the car and the car caught fire, so a couple of us helped the cabbie out."

The two people were taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital and John H. Stroger Hospital with serious injuries, officials said.

Kerestes was married and worked at Kiewit Eastern District, a construction company, while working to earn his MBA at the University of Chicago.

Milwaukee Avenue was temporarily shut down from Chicago Avenue to Sangamon. Chicago Transit Authority officials also rerouted the #56 Milwaukee bus around the crash scene.

It remained unclear Tuesday afternoon as to why the cab driver lost control.

 
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