BROOKLYN, New York (WABC) — A chain-reaction crash involving a firetruck left one person dead and nearly a dozen others injured in Brooklyn on Tuesday.
Officials say an FDNY firetruck was traveling eastbound on Avenue S with its lights and sirens on when it struck a commercial van traveling westbound on 11th Street after 6:30 p.m.
A camera on a nearby home captured that van heading into the intersection, and then the firetruck T-boning it.
The crash caused the firetruck to then strike an Access-A-Ride van full of passengers, which then struck a Lexus SUV.
Five firefighters were taken to a local hospital in stable condition.
The driver of the commercial van was taken to NYU Langone Brooklyn.
The Access-A-Ride driver and three passengers were taken to South Brooklyn Health. One of the passengers, a 78-year-old man, was pronounced dead. The other three, including the driver and other two passengers, are in stable condition, according to officials.
“They were almost like seven, eight people in there. I feel like they were hurt because they were already like disabled. The door would not open and the officer was trying to push it, and it took a long time to open the door,” said witness, Hussain Towseef.
The driver of the Lexus was also taken to a local hospital in stable condition.
In total, authorities say 11 people were injured.
The boom of the crash was so loud that that’s all neighbors remember hearing.
“I heard that the van had the green light and the fire truck went this way. I don’t know if they had the siren, I didn’t hear anything to be honest,” said Marcello Ocello, who heard the crash.
Michael Liu owns the commercial van involved in the crash, and an HVAC company. His employee was at the wheel after finishing his last job of the day.
“Very bad tragedy for my worker. Going to pass the green light and the fire truck without the sirens had the red light, hit my truck,” Liu said.
Police, in their preliminary investigation, say the lights and sirens on the fire truck were active. It’s not clear if it was headed to a call.
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