Truck Runs off the Road in the Bronx, Killing One, Injuring Six

A mother of five was killed and six others, including the truck driver, were injured when a Coca-Cola truck crashed into an apartment building after a collision in the South Bronx, police and fire officials report.

The accident occurred around 3:20 p.m. on Monday. The bright red Coca-Cola delivery truck hit a building at 759 East 138th Street in the Port Morris neighborhood, near the Bruckner Expressway, ABC Eyewitness News reports.

People waiting for a bus were injured when the truck came from the opposite direction and plowed into the group. Shaniqua Silva, 37, was pronounced dead at the scene. She was the mother of five children; her youngest child is 14, the New York Times reports. The truck driver and five others suffered minor injuries. They were taken to Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center and Jacobi Medical Center for treatment, fire department officials say.

The crash occurred on Bruckner Boulevard, the service road below the expressway. According to the preliminary police investigation, a vehicle crossed two lanes, cut in front of the Coca-Cola truck, and was struck by the truck. Witnesses say the SUV may have been trying to avoid a motorcycle. The truck driver lost control of the truck and the truck veered onto the sidewalk, hitting Silva and others at the bus stop before crashing into the building. A police spokesman said there did not appear to be any criminal activity involved, according to Eyewitness News.

Laura Barksdale, a resident of the building where the truck crashed, said she felt the building shake. When she went outside to see what had happened, she saw the truck’s front lodged in the side of the building and Silva’s body underneath. Barksdale described the section of Bruckner Boulevard as a dangerous place to cross. She said the traffic light at the intersection of Bruckner and East 138th Street frequently malfunctions or stops working and police often have to direct traffic. “They have cars coming from all directions. And then they have the motorbikes out there causing accidents.”

Silva’s husband, Orlando, was talking to his wife on the phone when the accident occurred. “I was speaking to her on the phone, she said Oh! and that’s the last thing I heard from her, I thought somebody snatched her phone away but no,” the Times reports. Witness Ericson Padilla said, “You heard the brake, but then it went out of control and slammed right into the wall.”

 

from Parker Waichman http://www.yourlawyer.com/blog/truck-runs-off-the-road-in-the-bronx-killing-one-injuring-six/