20 Injured When Driver Crashes Into Fla. Restaurant While Trying to Park: ‘Thought a Bomb Went Off'
Two pregnant women were among the individuals injured Friday in the crash, according to the Plantation Fire Department
Nearly two dozen people were injured Friday when a car slammed into a Thai restaurant in Florida, according to authorities.
Crews responded to the scene at 8255 West Sunrise Blvd. in Plantation, Florida, just after 6:30 p.m. local time after receiving multiple reports that a car had crashed into the Thai Meal Restaurant, according to the Plantation Fire Department.
Fire officials said a woman driving a sedan plowed through the front of the building while attempting to park the car, according to NBC affiliate WTVJ and The South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
Images from the scene, shared by ABC affiliate WPLG, show the red Nissan inside the restaurant - and the woman inside her car - shortly after the crash.
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Twenty people were injured in the collision, 12 of whom were transported to local hospitals, including two pregnant women, according to the PFD.
But in a statement obtained by PEOPLE, the Plantation Police Department stated nine people were sent to the hospital, while nine others refused treatment.
The injuries ranged in age and severity, Plantation Fire Department spokesperson Lieutenant Aston Bright said, according to the Sentinel. However, none of the injuries were deemed life threatening.
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One of the injured, Angel Soler, told WPLG that he was at Thai Meal when he heard what sounded like an explosion. He soon found himself on the floor next to the car.
"I thought a bomb went off for a second,” Soler told WTVJ. He recalled getting “shoved to the side” during the incident, while his wife “got shoved with the rest of the tables.”
The driver, who was not injured in the crash, remained at the scene after the impact. Her identity has not been released.
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In a post on Thai Meal’s Facebook page, owners identified only as Pete and Jenny thanked the community for their prayers and “all the first responders that rushed to the scene to aid our injured family and friends."
The couple also offered their support to those impacted by the crash. “My wife and I, as well as our entire staff, send our prayers for healing and recovery to all that were injured by this horrific accident,” they said in the statement.
Friday’s crash “could have been a lot worse” than it was, Bright told WTVJ. “It's a Friday night and people are here enjoying and eating their dinner, so this is just a terrible accident."
The PPD is investigating the incident.
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