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LI Horror: Bus Crashes Into House, Kills Boy In Bedroom
By
Jen Chung
Published Nov 28, 2012
Modified Nov 28, 2012
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By
Jen Chung
Published Nov 28, 2012
Modified Nov 28, 2012
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Last night at 9:15 p.m., a Nassau commuter bus trying to avoid a pedestrian crashed into a Hempstead home—killing a six-year-old boy in the front bedroom. The boy's seven-year-old brother was injured, as were 11 bus passengers and the pedestrian.
Police say that the Nassau Inter County Express bus driver was trying to avoid a pedestrian crossing Fulton Avenue, a four-lane road. The driver honked his horn; Newsday reports, "The pedestrian continued crossing north and the driver swerved, making a hard right. He hit the pedestrian and slammed into the front bedroom of the multifamily home on Fulton Avenue, police said. 'The bus was trying to avoid the pedestrian in the roadway and wound up hitting the pedestrian anyway,' said Lt. Frank McNamee of the Hempstead Village police."
The six-year-old, David Santana, was pinned between the bus and an interior part of the house. Some reports say that he was sleeping, but residents in the house say that David was walking to close the bedroom door when the crash occurred. One, José Antonio Villagran, told the Post, “I was sleeping when suddenly, the big crash happened. I heard a big boom and I thought it was the end of the world."
He and another resident, Edgar Lazo, tried to get the children. Lazo spoke to Newsday: "He and other residents smashed a window to try to pull out the boys. While they got the older one, they could not reach the younger boy and they searched fruitlessly for about 50 minutes in the rubble, he said, Later firefighters arrived and helped to find the boy."
No charges have been filed. Newsday notes that the bus line was previously operated by the MTA, but Nassau County decided to opt for Veolia Transportation to "rein in costs for bus service, which the MTA ran for 37 years. Nassau was providing $9.1 million toward the system's $141 million budget, and the MTA said it no longer would make up the difference. Unless Nassau came up with $26 million more, the MTA said it would be forced to eliminate half of LI Bus' routes."
The pedestrian was taken to the hospital in critical condition. The passengers suffered minor injuries.
Tagged
bus crash
bus vs house
hempstead
jaywalking
long island
pedestrian
tragedy
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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