QUINCY — A 52-year-old woman was killed here Friday afternoon when her husband backed his van into her, in a devastating crash that the man said was an accident, according to city police.

The victim, Zhen Li, was struck just before 2:30 p.m. outside 19 Phillips St., police said in a statement. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Her 54-year-old husband told police he was “backing his vehicle out of his driveway and accidentally struck his wife,’’ the statement said.

The man was taken to a local hospital because he was distraught, according to a police spokesman. Officials did not identify Li’s husband on Friday night.

Police said in their statement that no charges had been filed “pending the outcome of an investigation.’’

Li’s family could not be reached for comment.

Friends and relatives who entered the multifamily home on Phillips Street hours after the crash declined to speak to reporters.

Quincy police were at the scene throughout the afternoon taking photographs of the driveway where the crash occurred and looking inside the husband’s Toyota van. A white blanket that appeared to be covering Li’s body was also visible.

A state medical examiner’s van retrieved her body around 6 p.m., and the husband’s vehicle was later taken away on a flatbed truck.

“Our sympathies to family [and] friends,’’ Quincy police said on their official Twitter feed.

Neighbor Edwin Williams, 29, said he did not see the crash but later observed police and firefighters on the street, as well as a stretcher.

He said he did not know Li and was saddened by the news.

“It’s scary to know that something like this could have happened,’’ Williams said.

Travis Andersen can be reached at travis.andersen@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @TAGlobe. Olivia Quintana can be reached at olivia.quintana@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @oliviasquintana.