Bruckner tot tragedy
Killed as trash hauler hits car
A 3-year-old girl was killed and her mother and grandparents injured Saturday when a garbage truck slammed into their car in The Bronx, authorities said.
The 52-year-old grandmother was driving north on Bruckner Boulevard at about 10 a.m. when she slowed to avoid a raised metal sewer cap on the milled roadway, police sources said.
The sudden move caused the private trash hauler to rear-end the silver Chevrolet Malibu, which was pushed into a metal pole, killing little Sophia Aguirre of Brooklyn.
“Everyone was screaming. They were trapped. There was blood all over the place,” said a parking-lot attendant who had rushed over to help with other garage employees.
They pulled out the grandmother and the baby’s mother, 37, who was sitting in the back seat with her child. The grandfather, 52, was in the passenger seat.
The mother was screaming and “calling for her baby who was trapped,” said the parking employee. “It all happened so fast. It was shocking.”
None of the injured adults were able to walk at the crash scene. All four family members were rushed to Lincoln Hospital, where the child was pronounced dead.
The truck driver, who works for Avid Waste Systems, remained on the scene as the NYPD’s Collision Investigation Squad investigated.
A Department of Transportation spokesman said the road was milled a week ago and is scheduled to be repaved soon.
Locals said the street has long been poorly maintained.
Tyesha Bryant, 27, who works two doors down at a storage facility, said her husband hit a pothole nearby and crashed about three years ago. “The potholes in the street are bad,” she said. “It’s been for years. It’s horrible.”