Car ripped apart in crash in Chicago's Ashburn neighborhood, 2 critically injured

Two people were critically injured early Sunday when a car was torn apart in the Ashburn neighborhood on Chicago's Southwest Side.

In the early-morning hours, a man was driving a blue sedan northeast on Columbus Avenue near Central Park Avenue with another man in the passenger seat.

The driver lost control and hit a tree, police said.

Both the driver and the passenger were taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where they were listed in critical condition.

West Columbus Avenue runs northeast-southwest on the city's Southwest Side, and is known as Southwest Highway in the suburbs. It is unrelated to Columbus Drive in Grant Park downtown and extending north into Streeterville.

The police Major Accident Investigation Unit was investigating the crash.