6 injured, 2 seriously, in chain-reaction crash on Veterans Memorial Highway in Hauppauge

Six people were injured, including two seriously, in a fiery multivehicle pileup on Veterans Memorial Highway in Hauppauge on Tuesday, Suffolk County police said.

Around 5:55 p.m., a 60-year-old man was driving a 2025 Mazda CX-30 in the left eastbound lane of Veterans Memorial Highway. Four vehicles were stopped in the left-turn lane waiting to turn onto Ledgewood Drive, police said.

The Mazda CX-30 struck the back of the last vehicle, a 2022 Mitsubishi Outlander, causing a chain-reaction crash of the stopped cars. The Mitsubishi struck the back of a Tesla Model 3, causing it to strike the back of a 2020 Toyota Camry, which then struck the back of a 2023 Mazda CX-5, police said.

The impact caused the Mazda CX-30 to catch fire, which spread to the Tesla; Firefighters responded and extinguished the fire, police said. 

According to police, six occupants in the vehicles were taken to Stony Brook University Hospital for treatment of injuries.

The driver of the Mazda CX-30, the 43-year-old driver of the Tesla and her 8-year-old son in the back seat were treated for injuries that were not life-threatening.  

The driver of the Mitsubishi, a 43-year-old woman, was treated for serious injuries that were not life-threatening, and her 9- and 12-year-old daughters in the back seat were treated for injuries that were not life-threatening.

The 31-year-old driver of the Toyota and the 39-year-old driver of the Mazda CX-5 were not injured.

The vehicles were impounded for safety checks.

Newsday's Nicholas Grasso contributed to this report.