Taxi Drivers Feel 'Very Lucky' To Escape Serious Injury In Logan Airport Crash
LEICESTER (CBS) – Lahcn Egaghdani was praying inside a worship center on Monday when a taxi careened out of control and clipped the building, sending wood debris and broken glass flying through the air.
"I feel very lucky," Egaghdani told WBZ.
The cab driver is amazed he emerged from the crash with only some cuts, bruises and a torn shirt. He credits a nearby concrete pillar for saving his life, believing it slowed the speeding car and diverted it away from where he sat praying.
"Everything in the building flew and touched me. I jumped. It was like electricity," he described.
Egaghdani was one of 10 victims treated at area hospitals on Monday. According to state police, the worst of the victims was in serious condition with broken legs and internal injuries.
Hiehem Kaerzi, a cab driver of eight years, was relaxing at a concrete picnic table, a popular place for people to pass the time at the waiting pool near Logan Airport. When he heard a car honking, Kaerzi looked up to see the speeding car approaching and he froze in fear.
"I didn't react. I panicked," Kaerzi said. "I was just putting up my hands and saying, 'Oh my God. Oh my God.'"
Kaerzi said the injuries were tough to see. He also told WBZ-TV the screams of a fellow cabbie pinned against a wall after the cab crashed into a picnic table kept him up on Monday night.
"It was tough to get any sleep," he said. "It's not easy to witness something like that. But when I think about what happened, it could've been so much worse."
Almost immediately, investigators called the incident a "tragic accident," saying there was nothing to suggest it was intentional.
Several witnesses told WBZ-TV the driver of the taxi indicated something had malfunctioned in his vehicle, causing him to careen out of control.
State police interviewed and released the 56-year-old driver on Monday night without filing any charges. It will likely be weeks before investigators determine what caused the crash by reviewing things like the vehicle's internal computer.
Boston Police Lt. Tom Lema said he had no motor vehicle citations in 15 years.
A WBZ-TV crew visited the driver's Cambridge apartment on Tuesday, but nobody came to the door.
