A brutal accident took place shortly after 6 AM on Tuesday morning in Van Nuys, injuring 5 people and leaving former track star Alex Wilright in critical condition.
According to initial reports, police arriving at the scene were told that a person had died, but they quickly determined that was not the case, which judging by the ferocity of the impact, seems almost hard to believe.
The crash occurred near Vanowen and Sepulveda Boulevard and involved 5 vehicles, though what we mostly see in the video that was obtained by MrMJMTech, is a white Hyundai Sonata, hitting the white GMC Yukon Denali head-on at an alarmingly high speed.
After the crash, the SUV was propelled 160 feet backwards, while the sedan was launched into the air, hit a Corolla, went across the top of a Prius and landed on top of a Tacoma. The speed at which the impact took place is believed to be around 100 mph (160 km/h).
LAPD training officer John Stafford of the Valley Traffic Division told the Daily News that “the party in the car was going north (on Sepulveda) and was flying. It looked like he was going 100 miles per hour. He’s in the hospital in very serious condition. He was the only one seriously injured. We got very fortunate.”
Stafford also said that the impact happened “passenger side to passenger side and that dissipated the energy and they are both alive.”
The man behind the wheel of the Sonata, Alex Wilright, moved to Los Angeles back in 2011 to trail for the 2012 Olympics and finished 12th in the 400 hurdles at the trials.
Note: Some readers may find the footage disturbing