A dream trip to New York City turned into a nightmare Wednesday afternoon when a German couple was struck by a runaway minivan in the heart of Midtown. The wife was killed instantly in a gruesome collision, while her husband, celebrating his birthday, was rushed to the hospital with life-threatening injuries.
The crash happened around 2:40 p.m. at Fifth Avenue and East 40th Street, just steps from the New York Public Library. According to police, a green Toyota Sienna with a Mississippi license plate that read “TIMES SQUARE” suddenly reversed at high speed, pinning the couple against a box truck.
The 50-year-old woman, visiting from Hamburg with her 55-year-old husband, suffered catastrophic injuries. Police sources said she was nearly decapitated on impact. Her husband was left with a fractured skull and remains hospitalized at Bellevue in stable condition.
“This was supposed to be a happy day for them,” one officer at the scene told reporters. “Instead, it ended in tragedy.”
Street vendors and bystanders were left shaken as the chaos unfolded.
“The minivan sped away. As he was reversing, the woman was under the van. The man was stuck under the tire. He got himself out,” said a Nuts4Nuts vendor who saw the attack. “Her face got run over. Everyone was shocked. It was crazy.”
Rosa Paredes, who was sitting in a nearby ice cream truck, said she felt the impact before she even knew what had happened. “There was no screaming,” she explained in Spanish. “The van tried to go very fast to the right and then it backed up. I don’t think the driver even knew he hit people.”
Tourist merchant Houssaim Coly added: “The light was yellow. The van tried to catch it. When he started backing up, the truck was going forward. The woman ended up in between the cars. My coworker told me it was terrible.”
Graphic video obtained by local outlets showed first responders desperately trying to save the woman as horrified pedestrians looked on.
The suspect, described as a 40-year-old man, fled the scene but was arrested about an hour later by an NYPD Quality of Life team at West 38th Street and Eighth Avenue. Sources say he was behind the wheel without a valid driver’s license.
“I did not hit anybody,” the man told officers after being taken into custody, according to law enforcement sources.
No charges have been officially filed yet, though the NYPD Highway District Collision Investigation Squad is continuing to investigate.
This latest tragedy underscores New York City’s ongoing battle with pedestrian deaths. In 2024, nearly 120 pedestrians were killed in traffic crashes across the five boroughs, sparking renewed calls for stricter enforcement and traffic safety measures.
“Tourists come here expecting bright lights and Broadway,” said one local advocate with Families for Safe Streets. “They should never leave in a body bag. This city needs to do better.”
For the German couple, what should have been a birthday celebration in the Big Apple instead ended in horror on one of Manhattan’s busiest streets — a reminder of how quickly life can be shattered by reckless driving.
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