Willesden Green crash: Witnesses tell of horror as man dies and woman left critical after Mercedes ploughs into pedestrians

Crash scene: the aftermath of the collision in Willesden Green

Witnesses today told of their horror after a Mercedes ploughed into pedestrians killing a young man and leaving a woman fighting for her life.

Dozens of people ran out of their homes to try and save two pedestrians who were struck on a pedestrian crossing by the Mercedes C Class about 11.30pm in Willesden Green, north west London.

A man, in his 30s, was thrown into the air and died from his injuries at the scene. A woman in her late 20s is in hospital today in a critical condition.

The 33-year-old driver was taken to hospital before being arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving and drink drinking.

A passenger in the car fled the scene and has not been traced.

One resident gave the woman first aid at the scene at the junction of Walm Lane and Willesden Lane. She described the crash as the “most horrific thing” she had ever seen and added: “I did my best. Absolutely tragic, the girl I helped was no older than me. Thank God nobody else was on that crossing.”

Residents pulled the keys out of the ignition as the car, which had flipped onto its roof, was leaking fuel.

Riesse Hamilton, 21, a graphic designer, whose flat overlooks the scene, told the Standard: “It was like a grenade went off outside – it was that loud.

“It’s so sad people losing family members so close to Christmas. I ran out and saw the girl first.

“She was in front of the Mercedes. She looked in a bad way but there was no sign of cuts or bruises she just looked in severe pain.

“I turned around and my girlfriend went to give first aid to her.

“I went over to the man who was at the rear of the car and you could tell he was losing his life.

“The girl was put in the ambulance first and taken away. There was loads of paramedics around the man desperately trying to save his life.

“The guy was in a really bad way.

“Everyone did the best they could to help.

“This could have killed more people. What I saw last night was horrid."

The driver has been bailed to a date in early March. Police are appealing for witnesses.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Serious Collision Investigation Unit based at Alperton on 020 8991 9555 or the police non-emergency line on 101.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in