A driver crashed into a homeless encampment in Salem, Oregon, on Sunday morning, resulting in the death of four people, according to police.
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The crash occurred at around 2 a.m. on Sunday when the driver of a two-door sports car hit the encampment, killing two at the scene and sending two to the hospital, where they later lost their lives, police said.
Police are still investigating the incident to find out what exactly happened, but it is believed that alcohol played a factor in the accident, the Salem Statesman Journal reported.
The driver was hospitalized for injuries, but his condition was not made clear by the police. As of now, those involved in the crash have not been identified.
The crash was witnessed by onlookers who called it horrifying as they tried to save their friends from the wreckage.
One of the witnesses, Nathan Rose, shared with the Journal that the car almost hit the tent he and his girlfriend were in, but barely missed it. "The moment I saw what had happened, first thing I did was drop my phone and call 911," Rose told the Journal. "From there, it was just chaos."
After he heard a loud noise, he left his tent and saw people pinned under the vehicle, some of whom were his friends.
The exact number of people who had been camping on the grassy median was not known by police, but three who survived were taken to a local motel.
Salem has numerous residents without houses who camp in parks in the city when shelters fill, as they frequently do, according to the Salem Reporter.
City officials had evicted dozens of campers from a park near the site of the deadly crash earlier this month, according to KPTV. The investigation into the crash and whether alcohol did play a factor remains ongoing.
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