A woman… was struck and killed by an MTA bus on the Lower East Side https://t.co/4uUVQv6miQ pic.twitter.com/hqM8Ykf2Zw
— New York Daily News (@NYDailyNews) October 4, 2016
A 73-year-old woman (some reports indicated she was younger) was struck and killed by an MTA bus near East Houston Street and Columbia Street earlier this morning.
It happened at around 9:50 a.m., according to AMNY. The victim was declared dead at the scene. Police are investigating and the MTA has confirmed that one of its buses was involved in the accident. The Daily News reported that the woman was hit by the rear wheels of the bus. DNA Info reported that the woman was “crossing East Houston when she was struck by the bus as it turned left from Avenue D.”
The driver remained on the scene. M14D buses were delayed in both directions. On eastbound buses, stops between Columbia and Mangin streets were being made on Avenue D at East Houston. Stops on FDR Drive and Delancey Street were being made on Delancey and Columbia streets.
UPDATE 12:51 p.m. More from the Daily News. One witness who declined to give his name said, “It was horrible to watch… (The light) was about to turn red when she was crossing the street. The bus was turning and it ran her over. The bus dragged her body for a few feet.” The witness said the driver did not know he had hit a pedestrian. “People started yelling, ‘Hey! Hey! You ran someone over!’” said the onlooker. “He stopped and realized what had happened.”
UPDATE 2:40 p.m. The victim has been identified as Anna Colon, a 73-year-old Brooklyn resident.
UPDATE 10/5 8:10 a.m. Additional details from the Daily News:
Family rushed to the Lower East Side on Tuesday after a bus hit and killed a woman, knowing — even though a sheet covered the body — that it was the beloved 73-year-old mother of nine. A prayer card for St. Jude, patron saint of lost causes, was lying on the ground next to the woman’s body. It was the card Anna Colon of Brooklyn always carried. “My heart sank all the way to my stomach,” said Yahaira Sanchez, 32. “I picked up the saint card. I knew that was my aunt. She didn’t deserve to die like this.”
No charges have been filed against the driver. According to Streetsblog, “Drivers injured 15 people walking at the intersection between 2009 and 2015, and had injured one other person there this year as of August.”
