A man is critically hurt after the van he was driving crashed into an ambulance that was going the opposite direction on Georgia Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., early Wednesday morning, fire officials say.
Surveillance video of the crash shows the ambulance driving on Georgia Ave. near Farragut Street NW about 7:20 a.m., when a white minivan going the opposite direction veers over and slams into the side of the ambulance. Part of the front portion of the van then appears to go under the ambulance, jolting the truck before the van spins around in the other direction.
When the van comes to a stop, the front of the car appears to be crumpled to pieces and smoke can be seen rising out of the area where the hood of the car was just seconds before.
The driver of the van was trapped after the crash and firefighters had to get him out, D.C. Fire and EMS said. He is in critical condtion, the fire department said.
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Two medics who were in the ambulance were taken to a hospital to be evaluated, but are OK, officials said. They were responding to a call at the time of the crash, the fire department said. There were no patients in the ambulance.
The wife of the man who was driving the van showed up to the scene and told News4 that her husband was on his way to get breakfast when the crash happened. She said they don't own the van and it belongs to one of their friends.
Public vehicle registration records show that D.C. has issued at least 17 speeding tickets in the past several months to the registered driver of the minivan and there are more than $2,400-worth of tickets that are unpaid.
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A section of Georgia Ave. is shut down as police continue to investigate the crash.
No further information was immediately available.
Stay with News4 for updates to this developing story.