Freak Crash Kills Medford Woman
Pregnant Medford woman killed in Fort Lauderdale: MyFoxBOSTON.com
A pregnant Peirce School (Arlington) teaching assistant died in a freak accident in Florida on Sunday, March 18, when an out-of-control car crashed into a hotel cabana that she and her husband were in.
Fort Lauderdale police said a driver crashed her four-door sedan into a cabana at the Riverside Hotel on East Las Olas Blvd. about 1:30 p.m.
Witnesses said the couple had been lying by the pool when the woman, identified as Alanna Demella, 26, of Roberts Road, Medford, got up to use the restroom inside the cabana. Moments later, the car crashed into the two-story building, plowing through two concrete pillars in the process.
“It’s a tragic accident, it’s sad,” said David Gordon, a tourist from the United Kingdom, according to a report on Channel 5. “There was no braking, no screeching of tires, just a big explosion.”
According to Channel 5 News, Fort Lauderdale police identified the driver as Rosa Rivera Kim, 34, of Plantation, Fla., and said “for unknown reasons, (Kim) lost control of her vehicle,” crashing into the hotel cabana.
Demella’s unborn baby also died. Her husband, Michael Demella was treated at Broward General Hospital for minor injuries and released, hospital officials said. He was also in the cabana when the car hit, witnesses said.