A four-vehicle crash on Beacon Hill early Tuesday evening that involved a Jeep traveling backwards into traffic sent a pedestrian and a driver to the hospital, according to witnesses and Boston police.

The driver of one of the vehicles and a pedestrian who was struck were taken to Tufts Medical Center, said Officer Rachel McGuire, a department spokeswoman.

The victims were not identified. McGuire said she had no information about the age, gender, or identity of any of the victims. She also did not know the extent of any injuries.

Separately, a pedestrian accident in Roslindale claimed the life of an 88-year-old woman. Police responded at 4:41 p.m. to a report of an accident at 4593 Washington St. They arrived to find that a woman had been struck by a car. The victim, who was not identified, was taken by ambulance to Brigham and Women’s Hospital, where she was pronounced dead, McGuire said.

No additional information was available Tuesday night, she added.

The Beacon Hill crash occurred at about 5:10 p.m. at Beacon and School streets, police said.

Witnesses, including two drivers whose vehicles were struck, described a startling and frightening accident.

The Jeep, with New Hampshire license plates, backed up on School Street, where it struck a pedestrian at the corner of Tremont Street. The Jeep then turned right, and crashed into cars stopped at a red light on Tremont Street.

“I was just waiting to go at the light,’’ said Walter Moya, 24, of East Boston, whose black minivan was struck. The Jeep was probably traveling 35 to 45 miles per hour, he said.

The driver appeared to be distressed, he said.

“He was hanging out of the [car] door and screaming,’’ Moya said of the driver, who was not identified.

The driver was taken away on a stretcher, said the owner of a Buick LaCrosse that was also struck, but who did not want to be identified.

The accident scene remained sealed off at 8 p.m. as detectives examined four vehicles, including a badly damaged brown Jeep Cherokee and a black Toyota Siena minivan.

Travis Andersen can be reached at Travis.Andersen @globe.com. Globe correspondents Olivia Arnold and Mina Corpuz contributed to this story.