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One person killed after vehicle crashes into bank on Airline Highway
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BATON ROUGE - First responders say a vehicle exploded and caught fire after crashing into a bank on Airline Highway. It happened at the corner of Airline Highway at Greenwell Street in Baton Rouge.
Emergency officials said driver, 62-year-old John Snowden, was killed. At least four people were taken to a hospital. Their condition is unknown.
BRPD said Snowden drove through an intersection, hit two cars and then ran into the bank. His vehicle caught on fire and the flames spread to the building.
Witnesses on the scene said multiple people trapped inside the bank needed to be rescued. Byron Johnson, Jayria White and Jeremy Williams had never met, but were all close to the bank at the time of the crash. They sprang into action to help pull people out of the flames.
“Honestly, coming down the road, I just see a lot of people running and I didn't even see the fire at first until after the fact but I just couldn't... there was just something within me that possessed me to just go over there and help,” White said.
Johnson managed to break through a window to save a woman.
“The window wouldn't break, I just kept kicking until I could get it out, I couldn’t just let her sit there. I did the best I could, I kicked with all my might and I got the window busted and we saved them, me and these guys helped to get people out and that's all that matters," Johnson said.
BRPD says that an autopsy will be conducted to determine if the driver had any medical conditions that may have caused him to go through the intersection.
The cause of the crash is under investigation.
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