At least seven killed in SUV crash near New York's Bronx Zoo

New York, Apr 30(ANI): At least seven people, including three children, were killed when an SUV crossed across several lanes of traffic on a highway overpass and plunged over 50 feet before landing in a ravine inside the Bronx Zoo in New York.

The 2004 Honda Pilot apparently flipped over a 4-foot-high iron fence before landing upside-down inside zoo property that was closed to the public and away from animal enclosures, zoo spokeswoman Mary Dixon said.

The cause of the crash remains unclear.

Police identified the dead as Jacob Nunez, 85, and Ana Julia Martinez, 81, and their daughters, Maria Gonzalez, 45, and Maria Nunez, 39, and three grandchildren.

The children were identified as Jocelyn Gonzalez, 10, the daughter of the driver, Niely Rosario, 7, Marly Rosario, 3, both daughters of Nunez.

The SUV was headed south on the Bronx River Parkway that cuts through a working-class neighborhood when it bounced off the median, crossed three southbound lanes before hitting a curb, causing the vehicle to become airborne, continue over the guardrail and plunge 59 feet into the zoo enclosure.

"Obviously, the vehicle was traveling at a high rate of speed. It hit something that caused it to become airborne," The Washington Post quoted FDNY deputy Chief Ronald Werner, as saying.

The medical examiner's office said it expected to release the victims' causes of death today. (ANI)