Early Sunday in Chicago's Ashburn neighborhood, a brutal crash near West Columbus Avenue and South Central Park Avenue left a car literally ripped in half, as seen in video recorded at the scene. Seats, body panels, and other vehicle parts were scattered across the roadway, and crews temporarily shut down Columbus Avenue while they picked through the wreckage.
According to ABC7 Chicago, the footage appears to show only one vehicle involved, with the car essentially split into two large pieces. The outlet reports that Columbus Avenue was closed between 31st Street and Central Park Avenue while emergency crews worked the scene. As of the station’s Sunday morning report, Chicago police had not released any details about injuries or what might have caused the crash.
Serious collisions are a familiar and grim storyline along busy Southwest Side corridors, where speeding and poor sight lines have contributed to injuries and deaths in recent years. As Streetsblog Chicago has reported, CDOT and CPD records show prior pedestrian and cyclist fatalities along the Columbus and Central Park corridors, underscoring long-standing safety concerns that go far beyond a single crash.
What the video shows
The clip circulating online shows the vehicle in two distinct sections, its front and rear separated, and debris scattered across multiple lanes. The carnage dominates the roadway in the footage, which has been republished by local feeds. Haystack News carries the same dramatic images of the torn-apart car and the cleanup effort as crews work to clear the street.
How officials are handling it
By Sunday morning, city officials had not issued a formal update on possible injuries, any charges, or a likely cause of the crash, and the Chicago Police Department had yet to post a public statement. The department’s news pages and its Media Major Incident Notifications are the standard places where crash information eventually surfaces for reporters and the public. We’ll update when authorities release more details.
