Four people have been hospitalized after a motorist crashed into a taxi, causing it to jump a curb and strike two pedestrians in Center City tonight, police said.

The collision occurred about 10 p.m. in front of the Kimmel Center on Broad Street near Spruce, when the driver of a red Nissan, driving southbound, tried to merge in the right lane, slamming into a Victory cab, police said.

The driver of the cab then swerved, jumped the curb and struck two people, one of whom was riding a bicycle, police said.

One of the pedestrians were taken to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital where he's listed in critical condition. The three others, whose conditions are unknown, are at Hahnemann University Hospital.

Traffic was blocked off from Walnut Street to Pine in both directions. The taxi sat in the middle of both southbound lanes as if it had spun around.

The right side of the cab was smashed, the rear passenger door hung off its hinges. A sea of shattered glass surrounded the vehicle and chunks of a nearby light pole littered the sidewalk near the scene of the accident.

- David Gambacorta & Dafney Tales