Jun 23, 2008 7:21 pm US/Eastern
Out-Of-Control Truck Causes Deadly Chain Reaction
Dump Truck Propells Parked Bus Into Building In Chinatown, Killing Pedestrian On The Way; 4 Other Victims Seriously Injured
Fifth Pedestrian-Involved Accident In 4 Days
Reporting
Jay Dow
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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A woman has died after an accident involving a Fung Wah bus and dump truck Monday morning. (File photo)
CBS
It was another dangerous day for pedestrians in Manhattan, but Monday's incident had a deadly result. Police say an out-of-control dump truck set off a chain reaction in Chinatown that ended with one woman dead and several others hurt.
It was a demolition derby in the middle of the Chinatown's morning rush, that ended with a Fung Wah tour bus lodged into the front entrance of a local bank, killing a 57-year-old woman and seriously injuring four others.
Eyewitnesses say it all happened around 8 a.m., when a yellow dump truck, operated by CPQ Freight System out of New Jersey, came barrelling off the Manhattan Bridge, taking out fire hydrants and light posts along the way.
Kerry Duplessis, a delivery driver for D&E Co., told CBS 2 how the dump truck ran up on the sidewalk and collided with his work van:
"The guy ran up on the back of my truck...All I heard was a big boom and that was hit. And then I saw him fly up on the sidewalk," said Duplessis.
The dump truck kept going, smashing into the back of the tour bus, which was loading passengers at the time.
"The bus skidded. The truck hit the bus, and the bus just went running," said 23-year-old college student Remy Rahman.
Rahman, traveling to Boston to visit his girlfriend, was one of the passengers.
"I'm still shaking from the whole thing. Because the thing is, it could have been me on the bus if it happened three seconds later," said Rahman.
The momentum of the crash pushed the parked Fung Wah bus straight into the plate glass entrance of the United Commercial Bank building at 77 Bowery St. in Chinatown, striking and killing a 57-year-old woman, who was walking on the sidewalk.
Another pedestrian who was pinned under the wreckage before being rescued was taken to the New York Downtown Hospital and said to be in very critical condition.
A third victim was removed to Bellevue Hospital and said to be in serious condition.
The conditions of the other victims are not yet known.
The accident is the latest in a recent series of pedestrian-involved car collisions in New York City. On Saturday, four people, including two toddlers, were hurt when a car plowed into a group of pedestrians in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn.
On Friday, 18 people were injured in three separate incidents involving a car striking a crowd of people on sidewalks in Manhattan.
Police say the driver of the dump truck told investigators his brakes failed him as he tried slowing down coming off the Manhattan Bridge.
CBS 2's Deborah Garcia contributed to this report.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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