What to Know
- Shattered glass and mangled gym equipment marked where an SUV slammed into the Planet Fitness location in South Philadelphia Sunday night.
- Around 20 people were using the gym at the time.
- No one inside the gym was hurt in the crash.
People working out at a South Philadelphia Planet Fitness location got quite the surprise Sunday night when an SUV slammed into the building, narrowly missing people working out inside.
The driver crashed into the Planet Fitness location in the Quartermaster Plaza shopping center near South 23rd Street and Oregon Avenue around 9:30 p.m. leaving shattered glass and mangled equipment and weights.
“We saw the smoke coming from the back, walked up to the back and seen all the weights on the floor, the window shattered, the car inside the building,” customer Kaytylin Meeler said.
Luckily, none of the 20 people of so working out inside was injured. The driver was taken to the hospital for observation.
Photos and video from the aftermath show the aftermath as firefighters surrounded the SUV as it sat among the free weights.
Gymgoers said the woman behind the wheel appeared to be driving erratically around a nearby Wendy’s before she backed into the large gym window.
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Crews boarded up the window and cleaned up the mess overnight so that the gym could reopen. Planet Fitness confirmed the gym was ready for workouts Monday morning.
"The local Planet Fitness franchisee is actively working with the Philadelphia authorities in their investigation of this unfortunate accident and we are grateful to the local first responders who provided immediate assistance," Planet Fitness Senior Public Relations Manager Becky Zirlen said.
