Fiery New Year’s Day crash kills 2, injures 5 following upstate NY concert, police investigating

Police are investigating after a fiery two-vehicle collision that killed two people and injured five others in Rochester, New York, early on New Year’s Day.

ROCHESTER, New York– Police were investigating after a fiery collision between two vehicles that killed two people and injured five others in Rochester, New York, early on New Year’s Day, authorities said.

The crash occurred shortly before 1 a.m. Monday as officers were directing traffic after a concert at the Kodak Center theater complex, police said in a statement.

A Ford Expedition collided with a Mitsubishi Outlander, sending both vehicles “through a group of pedestrians who were in the crosswalk,” according to the statement.

The collision caused an explosion and a large fire that took firefighters more than an hour to extinguish.

Once the flames were out, firefighters “located at least a dozen gasoline canisters in and around” the Expedition, the police statement said. That prompted police to bring in fire equipment and alert the FBI, police said.

According to police, two passengers in the Outlander were killed and the driver suffered non-life-threatening injuries. The driver of the Expedition was hospitalized with critical injuries. Three pedestrians hit by cars were also taken to hospitals, one of them in critical condition.

Investigators asked witnesses or anyone with information to contact police.

Rochester is about 340 miles (547 kilometers) northwest of Manhattan.