Van plunges off NY road into zoo grounds; 7 killed

Van plunges off NY road into zoo grounds; 7 killed
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Summary A van plunged from a New York elevated highway into the Bronx Zoo, killing seven passengers.

An out-of-control van careered across several lanes of traffic on a highway overpass Sunday, then plunged more than 50 feet (15 meters) off the side of the road and landed in a ravine on the grounds of the nations largest city zoo, killing all seven people aboard, including three children, authorities said.The van apparently flipped over a 4-foot (1.2-meter)-high iron fence before landing upside-down on the Bronx Zoo property. The cause of the crash was unclear, and a city official said the guardrails height would be one of the safety issues investigated.The victims were three girls, including a 12-year-old and a 10-year-old, an 84-year-old man and three women, ages 80, 45 and 30, the Fire Department of New York said. Their names werent immediately released.The van was headed south on the highway that cuts through a working-class neighborhood when it bounced off the median, crossed all southbound lanes and hit the guardrail, police said.Its not clear what caused the van to go out of control. The southbound side of the highway was closed briefly Sunday afternoon while police investigated.