15 hurt after rideshare driver slams into Virginia restaurant and sparks fire

At least 15 people were injured, authorities said, after a vehicle crashed into an Irish pub in Arlington, Virginia, Friday evening, sparking a fire in the process. 

The Arlington Police Department reported Saturday that a rideshare driver, with a passenger in his car, went off the road and slammed into the restaurant at about 6:45 p.m. Friday. Video obtained by CBS News showed flames and smoke billowing from Ireland’s Four Courts pub, which is located in Arlington’s Courthouse neighborhood.  

Police Saturday upped the injury toll from 14 to 15, confirming that a total of nine people were hospitalized. Two of those were still in critical condition, and a third was in serious condition. The other six were hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries, and included the driver and passenger, police said. 

Six other people were treated and released at the scene Friday. 

After Arlington County Fire Department crews extinguished the blaze, engineers determined that the building was “structurally sound, but could not be reoccupied,” the fire department said.

The cause of the crash remains under “active investigation” as “detectives continue to review evidence and speak with witnesses to determine the events that preceded the crash,” police disclosed Saturday.

“Please keep all the injured in your thoughts and prayers,” Ireland’s Four Courts Pub tweeted Friday. “Thanks to @ArlingtonVaPD and @ArlingtonVaFD for their quick response. We are devastated.”