New York, United States

At least four people were killed and several others were injured after a drunk driver crashed into a nail salon in Long Island, New York, said local officials in an update on Saturday (Jun 29), a day after the incident. 

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New details emerge 

On Friday (Jun 28), officials said that a vehicle had slammed into the nail salon in Deer Park, Suffolk County killing four people and injuring nine others who were inside the business at the time. 

The vehicle came to a stop at the back of the Hawaii Nail & Spa store at around 4:40 pm (local time). The crash had left the driver as well as multiple people trapped inside the nail salon who were later removed and taken to nearby hospitals. 

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“There were people trapped,” assistant Chief Dominic Albanese of the Deer Park Fire Department told reporters at the scene. “We extricated them and transported them to area hospitals.”

He also said that the driver was found semiconscious and taken to the hospital. 

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The driver, later identified as Steven Schwally, 64, was said to be drunk driving at high speed through a parking lot in Deer Park when he crossed a roadway and continued into another parking lot before crashing into the front window of the nail salon, said the Suffolk County Police, on Saturday. 

The 64-year-old has since been charged with Driving While Intoxicated (DWI) and will be arraigned at a later date, said the police. Schwally was among those hospitalised and suffered non-life-threatening injuries. 

About the victims

The four victims killed in the crash have been identified as Jiancai Chen, 37, of Bayside, Queens; Emilia Rennhack, 30, of Deer Park; Yan Xu, 41, of Flushing, Queens; and Meizi Zhang, 50, of Flushing, Queens, were killed, said the Suffolk County Police Department said in a release. 

All four people killed died at the scene, said the police. 

Rennhack, an off-duty New York Police Department (NYPD) officer, was among those killed, a spokesperson from the NYPD confirmed her death, on Saturday. The 30-year-old was reportedly assigned to the 102nd precinct in Queens. 

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Among the nine injured, four were hospitalised with serious but non-life-threatening injuries. Meanwhile, a 12-year-old girl was among five others who were treated at area hospitals for injuries. 

Eyewitness accounts

A report by WNBC citing witnesses said that the van was trying to pass another car when it went directly into the business.

Eric Perez, who was putting groceries into his car parked across from the site of the crash, told Newsday on Friday that he heard a speeding car and then a noise that “sounded like shattering.” 

According to local officials, around 150 firefighters and medical personnel responded to the crash.  

(With inputs from agencies)