1 dead, several injured in massive, four-car crash on Kosciuszko Bridge

A 75-year-old man died and seven other people, including a 9-year-old girl, were injured, following a multiple car crash that left one vehicle on its side at the foot of the Kosciuszko Bridge in Queens Thursday, police said.
The crash happened in Maspeth on the Brooklyn-bound side of the rainswept Brooklyn-Queens Expressway approaching Exit 34 at Meeker and Morgan Aves. around 10:50 a.m., cops said. The Kosciuszko Bridge spans Newtown Creek between Brooklyn and Queens.
The vehicles involved included a pickup truck, a green New York City “boro taxi,” an SUV and a sedan.
Investigators believe a 46-year-old man driving the pickup truck sparked the crash by colliding into a vehicle in front of him. That vehicle proceeded to hit two other vehicles, according to a preliminary report.
The heavy rains may have played a factor in the crash, police said.
Eight people from the four-car pileup, including the 75-year-old man and 9-year-old child, were rushed to Elmhurst Hospital for emergency care.
The 75-year-old died at the hospital. His name was not immediately disclosed.
The girl was unconscious at the scene of the crash, but regained conscious at the hospital, police said. She’s currently in stable condition.
Video on the Citizen app shows most of the vehicles on the far-right lane and shoulder of the highway. One of them, the Chevy Suburban, overturned and landed on its passenger side.
Multiple lanes were shut down, backing up traffic in both Brooklyn and Queens, as members of the NYPD’s Collision Investigation Squad were investigating the scene, officials said.
The 46-year-old driver remained at the scene. Charges were not immediately filed.