Multiple injuries, 1 dead as car transport truck crashes into Ithaca restaurant

A tractor-trailer hauling cars crashed into an upstate New York restaurant Friday, killing one person, injuring at least four people and collapsing part of the historic building.

Ithaca Mayor Santé Myrick said it wasn't clear if the person killed was a pedestrian or was inside Simeon's restaurant when the truck hit around 4 p.m.

Four people were taken to a hospital with injuries that were not considered life-threatening, according to Myrick. Others were treated at the scene.

The impact of the crash was felt throughout Ithaca Commons, the city's pedestrian mall.

"Everyone screamed," Lindsey Pouf, a pastry chef at a nearby restaurant, told the Ithaca Journal. "A lot of people ran to try and help, to see what they could do."

Construction worker John Sanford was standing about 20 feet away. He told the newspaper he did not hear braking or a horn before the crash happened.

"It was a quick, sudden thing," he said.

Myrick said the tractor lodged inside the building would probably be towed out. A crane was brought in.

The mayor said the driver was cooperating with police and no charges have been filed.

Ithaca, home to Cornell University and Ithaca College, is 45 miles south of Syracuse.