A YOUNG NEW YORK couple were killed in a car crash early today, while en route to a hospital to have their first child - but their child survived.

Nathan and Raizy Glauber, both 21, were using a car service to go to the hospital when another vehicle crashed into the side of theirs at an intersection in the Williamsburg neighbourhood of Brooklyn, said Hasidic community activist Isaac Abraham.

Nathan Glauber was pronounced dead at Beth Israel Hospital, while his wife died at Bellevue, police said.

The couple’s son was delivered at the scene and was taken to a hospital in serious condition, said Abraham, who is also a neighbour of the deceased woman’s parents and lives two blocks from the scene of the crash.

The driver of the vehicle that hit the couple’s car fled, police said. No arrests have yet been made.

The condition of the car service’s driver is unclear, police said.

Abraham called the couple’s death “a tragedy beyond [belief] just coming off a joyous holiday as Purim” as they were getting ready to welcome their first child.

Abraham often speaks publicly for the different sects in the ultra-orthodox community, which has strict rules governing clothing, social customs and interaction with the outside world. Men wear dark clothing that includes a long coat and a fedora-type hat and often have long beards and ear locks.

Brooklyn is home to the largest community of ultra-orthodox Jews outside Israel, more than 250,000.