Thursday, September 9, 2010

Car Strikes Pedestrians at 18th and U, Destroys Front of Restaurant

Via DCist, a car being driven at a high rate of speed careened out of control at the intersection of 18th and U last night, striking two female pedestrians and destroying the front of the Keren Restaurant.

One woman who was struck apparently had life-threatening injuries, although neither her condition, nor that of the other pedestrian, is known.

The driver of the vehicle, a female, was arrested at the scene after refusing treatment for her injuries. According to eyewitnesses, the driver approached the intersection of 18th and U and attempted to make a left turn while traveling at a very high rate of speed. The driver drove over the triangular median and struck the pedestrians before smashing into the front of Keren, an Eritrean (NOT Ethiopian, as has been reported elsewhere) restaurant. Fortunately, no one in the restaurant was injured in the crash. The building's structural integrity is being studied this morning.

According to TBD, as of approximately 4:30 this morning all roads around the area have been reopened.

2 comments:

13th and You said...

This is an awful tragedy so I'm sorry to focus on this, but what's the difference between Eritrean and Ethiopian food? This seems like something that I should know from living in this neighborhood but I don't. I know the geographic and political difference, but not culinary.

Anonymous said...

It's probably very similar, but my guess is, if it's a Muslim-owned restaurant, the food served will be broader than that of a typical Ethiopian restaurant. That's just my guess though.

The driver had been drinking at District, it's been reported. There they have a free happy hour between 6 and 7 pm. She crashed the car and ran into the pedestrians at 8:30 pm. Graham is reportedly looking into it (good), though District has denied serving anyone who's inebriated.