MINNEAPOLIS — A woman and her unborn baby are dead and two people are in custody after a crash in Minneapolis Thursday night.
Police got a call just before 11:00 pm for what they describe as a 'catastrophic motor vehicle crash' in the 1300 block of Newton Avenue North.
Investigators believe a dark-colored SUV was driving the wrong way down Newton Ave., a one-way street, when it struck a parked vehicle in the 1400 block. The SUV then continued the wrong way down Newton, at what police describe as a high rate of speed, hitting several parked vehicles and a minivan.
"We heard what sounded like a freight train coming down our street," said Greta Geren, who left her house to see what had happened. "When I got to the car [minivan] the guy in the car kept saying something about babies and I couldn't understand him. I thought he meant that there were babies in the car. But what he was trying to tell me was that his girlfriend or wife was pregnant and he wanted to get her out."
Crews worked for more than an hour to save an 8-months pregnant woman in her 30s who was trapped in the minivan. Both she and her unborn baby died before she was rescued.
Neighbors say people left their homes to try to help the people in the minivan, including Geren, who held the victim's hands until help arrived.
"He just kept saying 'get her out', 'get her out', and she said 'help me', 'help me' and I just started praying with them," she said.
The driver of the minivan and two people from the SUV are in the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
Police say the two people in the SUV were taken into custody.
Police believe narcotics and speed were factors in the crash.
