Garbage truck kills woman, 67

A private sanitation truck hit and killed a 67-year-old woman crossing a Brooklyn street early Thursday, leaving a gruesome scene before rolling off down the block without stopping, officials said.

Deborah Mutell was crossing 86th St. midblock near Bay Parkway, just a couple blocks from her Bensonhurst home, when the truck slammed into her about 4 a.m., police said.

She fell under the truck’s wheels and was dragged for several feet before her body fell away from the vehicle’s undercarriage in pieces.

Cops covered her remains with two separate sheets.

“It looked like two bodies at first, but then one of the police officers said the body had actually been severed in half,” said witness David Reyes, 35, who came upon the carnage as he headed to his job at a nearby bagel shop.

“There were two separate blankets. That’s what made it seem like there were two people.”

The sanitation truck driver kept rolling east along 86th St., officials said. Investigators are unsure if the driver knew he hit someone.

“The cops said it looked like it happened without anyone realizing what happened until after the fact,” Reyes said.

Mutell’s body came dislodged from under the truck only after the vehicle hit a bump at the intersection, a police source said.

“It’s so sad,” said Luiza Shuk, the victim’s neighbor. Shuk was shocked to hear her neighbor had been out so late when she was killed, saying Mutell usually came home by 7 p.m.

“She never bothered anyone,” Shuk said. “She was so nice.”

Police were searching for the truck Thursday.

The busy intersection is under an elevated train line, which obscures some views and has been the site of many crashes, nearby workers said.

“It’s horrific. It’s a very busy intersection,” said one area merchant, who wished not to be named. “It’s dark at that time, and especially in the winter, people dress in dark clothing.”

“Over the years, we’ve seen a lot of accidents,” the merchant added. “People don’t like to cross at the corner because of the pillars for the train tracks, so they’ll cross in the middle of the street and then motorists can’t see if anyone is coming.”

As of Wednesday, six people have been killed by vehicles on the city streets this year compared with eight by this time last year, officials said.

Thursday’s grisly scene unfolded as the city has adopted a new law that limits private carting companies to specific collection zones. The new law is designed to stop private carters from rolling roughshod all over the city and tamp down deadly crashes.

Private trash carters killed 43 New Yorkers between 2010 and November 2017, city data shows.

Anyone with information regarding the motorist responsible for Thursday’s crash is asked to call (800) 577-TIPS.