Deadly crash into Buffalo monument under investigation

Police on Friday were investigating what led a speeding minivan to crash into a monument in front of Buffalo City Hall, killing a passenger and seriously injuring the driver on Thanksgiving.

Police identified the woman who died as 34-year-old Angel Marie Cobb of Buffalo. The 40-year-old driver remained hospitalized. His name was not released.

Buffalo police Capt. Jeff Rinaldo told reporters the vehicle had reached an “extreme rate of speed” before crashing into the marble obelisk around 7:30 a.m. Thursday.

The Buffalo News reported the Toyota Sienna crashed through two marble posts ringing the site, then struck the 96-foot-tall (29-meter-tall) monument honouring President William McKinley, who was assassinated on a 1901 visit to the city in western New York.

The monument sustained no apparent structural damage, Rinaldo said, but the facade was heavily damaged.