Four people were killed and another critically injured in a fiery crash that shut down a major roadway in northwest suburban Des Plaines Thursday night.
The three-car crash happened just before 9 p.m. at 170 Northwest Highway, authorities said.
According to a preliminary investigation, a Mercedes Benz traveling westbound on Northwest highway at an “extremely high rate of speed” struck a Chevrolet Impala that was attempting to turn into a parking lot from eastbound Northwest Highway, police said.
The force of the crash pushed the Impala into the eastbound lanes of Northwest Highway causing it to collide with a Toyota Highlander.
Three people in the Impala, who were all family members, were taken to area hospitals and later pronounced dead. The driver of the Mercedes Benz was also killed, police said.
The passenger of the Mercedes was taken to Lutheran General Hospital in critical condition. Two people in the Highlander were released from the scene with minor injuries.
The three killed in the Impala were later identified by the Cook County medical examiner's as a mother, father and daughter-- Anita Crawford, 50; Kevin Crawford, 52; and Kristen Crawford, 20. The Mercedes driver was identified as Piotr Rog.
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Northwest Highway was shut down for several hours following the crash. An investigation remained ongoing hours later.
