A 37-year-old woman was killed and six people were injured when a Coca-Cola truck crashed into an apartment building after a collision in the South Bronx, police and fire officials said. The bright red delivery truck hit a building at 759 East 138th Street in the Port Morris neighborhood, near the Bruckner Expressway, around 3:20 […]
Woman Killed, 6 Injured, When Truck Runs off the Road
A 37-year-old woman was killed and six people were injured when a Coca-Cola truck crashed into an apartment building after a collision in the South Bronx, police and fire officials said.
The bright red delivery truck hit a building at 759 East 138th Street in the Port Morris neighborhood, near the Bruckner Expressway, around 3:20 p.m. on Monday, ABC Eyewitness News reports.
People were waiting there for a bus when the truck came from the opposite direction and plowed into the group. The woman who died, Shaniqua Silva, was pronounced dead at the scene. She was the mother of five children, the youngest of whom was 14 years old, the New York Times reports. The truck driver and five other people suffered minor injuries and were taken to Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center and Jacobi Medical Center for treatment, according to the fire department.
The crash occurred on Bruckner Boulevard, the service road below the expressway. The preliminary police investigation indicates that a vehicle crossed two lanes and cut in front of the Coca Cola truck, which then struck it. Some witnesses say the SUV was trying to avoid a motorcycle. The truck driver lost control of the truck, which veered onto the sidewalk, hitting Silva and others before crashing into the building, police said. A police spokesman said it did not appear that any crime was committed, according to Eyewitness News.
Laura Barksdale, a resident of the building the truck crashed into, said she felt the building shake, but ignored it until she heard the commotion outside, according to Eyewitness News. When she went outside, she saw the truck’s front in the side of the building and the woman’s body underneath it. Barksdale said Bruckner Boulevard is a dangerous place to cross. At the intersection of East 138th Street, the traffic lights frequently malfunction, or stop working completely, and the police often have to direct traffic, she said. “They need a crossing guard out there,” Ms. Barksdale said. “They have cars coming from all directions. And then they have the motorbikes out there causing accidents.”
Silva’s husband, Orlando, said they were talking 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.
