DETROIT – Three people were killed Wednesday when a vehicle struck a tree near Charlevoix and Lakewood streets.
A witness told Local 4 the car exploded shortly after it hit the tree.
The Mercury Marauder, driven by 26-year-old Ramon Bridges, was traveling west on Charlevoix Street when he lost control at the intersection and crashed into the tree and the porch of a vacant house before the car burst into flames.
"I heard screeching, then I looked this way and heard the impact and saw the bricks just fly," one witness said.
Three young men were trapped inside the car with no way of getting out.
Members of Bridges' family said he had just purchased the car three hours before the crash.
Bridges was killed, along with two 24-year-old men -- his cousin, Raheem Akbar, and his friend, Sedric Whaley.
"We tried to get a hammer to hit windows, to get them out, but the flames (were) very high. We couldn't do anything," said Abdo Nago.
Nago and his workers also used a fire extinguisher, but it was too late.
"It's very sad we couldn't help them," he said. "It was too late."
The three men had been close for more than 15 years.
Bridges' mother, Cynthia Bridges, said the grief is unbearable. It's the second time she's lost a son in a traffic accident.
"I just lost a son Nov. 2 to a hit-and-run," she said.
The bodies remained inside the car as it was taken to the Medical Examiner's Office to confirm the identification.
Detroit police said the car may have been traveling at more than 100 miles per hour.