- Police said a preliminary investigation indicated a car was speeding when it ran a red light.
- It was not yet known whether impaired driving played a role in the tragedy.
- Roads in the area remained closed for several hours so the bodies could be extricated from the mangled vehicles.
Nine people were dead and another was clinging to life in Nevada after a car raced through a red light and slammed into several vehicles, North Las Vegas police said.
Officer Alexander Cuevas, who called Saturday's crash a "chaotic event," said the age of those killed ranged from young children to middle-age adults.
“We have not seen a mass casualty traffic collision like this before,” Cuevas said.
Cuevas said a preliminary investigation indicated a Dodge Charger was speeding as it approached a major intersection at about 3 p.m., then ran a red light. Several cars and 15 people were involved in the crash, he said. Some of the vehicles were pushed into a vacant lot.
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Both people in the Dodge Charger were among those who died, Cuevas said. He said speed was a factor in the crash but that it was too soon to determine whether impaired driving was also involved.
A coroner would investigate the cause of the deaths and release the identities of the victims, Cuevas said. One person was hospitalized in critical condition and a few others suffered non-life threatening injuries, he said.
Cuevas said roads in the area remained closed for several hours so the bodies could be extricated from the mangled vehicles.
"Please make this a safer community by slowing down," Cuevas said.
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