A firefighter carries an injured child from the scene of a North Side crash this afternoon as other fire department personnel tend to other injured.Eight people, including people involved in a photo shoot depicting a wedding party, were injured when a city pickup truck hit a group of people on the Near North Side this afternoon, officials said.
A vehicle struck the people -- at least one a child -- in a crash near Cedar and Rush streets about 12:20 p.m., said Chicago Police News Affairs Officer John Mirabelli.
People dressed as members of the wedding party -- the bride, groom and a toddler -- posed for pictures on a corner when the three people and the photographer were all struck by a Ford F150 pickup truck, Mirabelli said. Police and a witness said they were told those injured were part of a photo shoot and dressed as members of a wedding party.
A fire official said eight people were taken to various hospitals: four in critical-to-serious condition, two in serious-to-fair condition and two in fair-to-good condition.
The child, believed to be about 2 years old, was in good condition at Children's Memorial Hospital by about 2:30 p.m., while a woman in her mid-20s believed to be the child's caregiver was in very critical condition at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, police said.
A city Streets and Sanitation laborer driving a Loop-based pickup truck was involved in the crash, department spokesman Matt Smith said. The laborer was driving to empty garbage baskets and pick up stray debris.
A witness said it appeared the city pickup truck hit several people and one other vehicle, a silver SUV, pinning some beneath one of the vehicles and also injuring the truck driver.
The Chicago Fire Department called an Emergency Medical Services Plan 1, which sends at least five ambulances to a scene, for the accident.
The witness said it appeared there was a photo shoot going on near the intersection, and the truck hit some people involved in the photo shoot. One person was pinned under the truck and another unconscious under another vehicle after the crash, and bystanders tried to lift at least one of the vehicles to get a person out from under, the witness said.
The driver of the truck also appeared to have been taken to a hospital by Fire Department ambulance, the witness said.
Of those hospitalized, Rosado said one critical-to-serious patient was taken to Children's Memorial Hospital; two critical-to-serious patients and one fair-to-good patient were taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital; and one critical-to-serious patient was taken to Advocate Illinos Masonic Medical Center. One fair-to-good patient and two serious-to-fair patients were taken to St. Joseph's Hospital.