DEADLY PILEUP
1 dead, 6 injured in fiery wreck on Brooklyn Bridge
A Scarsdale man died and six people injured early Wednesday in a fiery multivehicle wreck on the Brooklyn Bridge, officials said.
A pick-up truck and five cars slammed into one another at about 7:15 a.m. A witness said the truck burned and then several explosions were heard as the fire spread.
After the flames were knocked down, 32-year-old Kristopher Hambas, of Scarsdale, Westchester County, was found inside his torched Volkswagen, cops said.
The pickup truck sparked the chain reaction, sources with knowledge of the case said.
Six other motorists managed to get out of their vehicles safely. Only two needed to be transported to Brooklyn Hospital Center with minor injuries, officials said.
Police said that the crash began when a 48-year-old man driving a 2004 Ford pick-up truck rear ended a 2017 Nissan, sending the Nissan into the center median.
After hitting the Nissan, the pick-up truck struck Hambas’ Volkswagen, which was sent flying into a cement barrier and caught fire.
Before striking the barrier, th - 2006 GMC SUV. That sparked a domino effect with two other vehicles, cops said.
At least three of the six cars involved in the wreck burned, sources said. It took firefighters about an hour to put the blaze out.
Medics took the pick-up truck driver and the GMC SUV driver to Brooklyn Hospital Center for treatment. No arrests were made. The bridge was shut down in both directions right at the start of morning rush hour.
Manhattan-bound lanes reopened after about an hour. The Brooklyn-bound side partially reopened about two hours later as the investigation continued through the morning.
A few hours later, a taxi cab caught fire inside the Hugh Carey Tunnel that stretches between lower Manhattan and Brooklyn.
The car burst into flames inside the East River tube at about 12:15 p.m., an FDNY spokesman said. Firefighters were dispatched to put out the blaze.
Brooklyn-bound tunnel traffic was temporarily stopped as the fire was extinguished.