1 dead, 6 injured in multi-vehicle crash in Plainview, police say

A 71-year-old driver was killed Thursday afternoon after a crash in Plainview involving seven automobiles along a major Long Island roadway, according to the Nassau County Police Department.

The man’s name wasn’t released.

According to a police news release, the first of the crashes happened about 1:58 p.m. when the man, driving a 2018 Nissan Murano west on Old Country Road struck the rear driver’s side of a 2012 Toyota minivan driven by a 44-year-old man who was turning left onto the road.

The 71-year-old then crossed into eastbound traffic, “colliding with a 2007 Volvo, operated by a 50-year-old female and a 2020 Kia driven by a 35-year-old female,” the release said.

The 71-year-old then kept going on the road and then “struck a 2009 Volkswagen Rabbit, driven by a 49-year-old female, also occupied by a 24-year-old passenger,” the release said.

“The Volkswagen Rabbit was then involved in a collision with a 2013 Toyota Camry being operated by a 27-year-old female, causing the Toyota Camry to be struck in the rear by a 2021 Subaru, operated by a 51-year-old female.”

The 71-year-old was later pronounced dead at a hospital.

Six people were hurt, with injuries including “an ankle injury, a possible fracture,” “chest pains,” “head and neck pain,” Plainview Fire Department Chief Andrew Cohen told Newsday later Thursday.

Four people, drivers and passengers, were brought to the hospital for what the police department said were minor injuries; two others declined to be treated by medics.

When Cohen arrived on the scene on Thursday, “It looked like there were two cars that had a head-on collision,” he said, speaking around 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the firehouse down the road from the crash site. “There were two cars that had passed it that were involved in an accident, and there were another couple of cars that were involved in an accident. I think people just rear-ended each other at that point.”

The event was treated as a mass casualty incident, the fire chief noted, during which ambulances from multiple agencies transported victims to different hospitals. Plainview, Northwell Health and Nassau County ambulances were all on scene.

Details such as the driver’s speed and who might be at fault were not disclosed. The investigation is ongoing.

More coverage: Every 7 minutes on average a traffic crash causing death, injury or significant property damage happens on Long Island. A Newsday investigation found that traffic crashes killed more than 2,100 people between 2014 and 2023 and seriously injured more than 16,000 people.