Three dead after SUV crashes into Kensington SEPTA station

Three people died early Tuesday after the driver of an SUV lost control and crashed at Kensington and Allegheny Avenues in Kensington.

Philadelphia police say the SUV’s driver jumped a curb at a high speed and hit pedestrians outside of SEPTA’s Allegheny Station, striking at least three people, shortly before 2:45 a.m. Tuesday. The driver was traveling east on Allegheny Avenue approaching Kensington Avenue and wasn’t able to turn on the bend in the road, barreling through the intersection, mounting the curb and striking a turnstile, police said.

After hitting the turnstile, the SUV hit two pedestrians before crashing into the wall of the station.

The driver of the SUV, along with the two pedestrians — a man and woman — were pronounced dead at the crash site. One man’s body in front of the SUV was charred and decapitated, Chief Inspector Scott Small said at the scene. Their identities were not immediately released.

The driver — who also was not immediately identified — was driving at least 100 m.p.h. before the crash, Small said. Police also said a 53-year-old man was taken to Temple University Hospital, where he was in stable but serious condition.

In a video of the scene, the SUV is seen smoking from the front, which is completely mangled and destroyed. Surveillance footage reviewed by The Inquirer shows the SUV at the moment of impact, crashing into the turnstile and the wall of the station, hitting one pedestrian so forcefully that the person is flung in the air and lands a few feet away on the sidewalk.

A member of the Department of Licenses and Inspection was at the scene to check on the structural integrity of the building.