A mother and her kids were almost crushed in a road traffic accident this morning. Reyna Savala was taking her two 3 year old daughters to school on a bicycle at the corner of Western Avenue and Mahogany Street when a garbage truck hit her.
It is the kind of accident that seems to always be waiting to happen: a parent juggling two kids on a too-small bicycle, in a vehicle's blind spot at the height of the rush hour. And this one could have been a terrible calamity: they were almost crushed by the garbage truck.
Courtney Weatherburne was on the scene.
Courtney Weatherburne reporting
This now mangled red bicycle looked like it could only carry a small child. But, this morning, it was carrying a woman and her two daughters when they were knocked down by a waste control truck.
Understandably, the driver of the truck was in shock and couldn't speak with us at the scene. But two witnesses described what they saw.
Voice of Eyewitness
"I was sitting down right there on Western Avenue - I was just passing by going at the shop and all of a sudden I heard bang and I saw a lady and two kids were riding and after that I saw a truck from Waste Control ran over the lady and then after that I saw the bike fall into three pieces and I saw the lady down there and the kid was bleeding from the head."
According to one of the witnesses -who lives close by the site of the accident- it could have been worse.
Fred Mendez, Eyewitness
"Actually, I was sitting down right here like how you see me. We were talking and I heard somebody knocking bang and yelling and when I look up, I saw the truck turning and then I saw some people passing. The sideman looks like he saw the accident before it happens because he was banging on the truck to stop. All I heard was a bang and a drag. I ran out there and when I reach there I saw the truck wheel set on top of the little girl. It didn't crush her, it just set there. The driver jumped out the truck and the sideman told him to reverse back and so he got in the truck and reverse the truck some more. The other little girl who was trapped in the back of the seat, under the truck, I pull her from the seat. The other little girl received injuries to her head."
Courtney Weatherburne
"Where was the lady?"
Fred Mendez, Eyewitness
"The lady was just frighten and she stayed on the ground and she got up and ask for her kids and I showed her the two little girls and told her that they are okay. She revived herself a little bit and got into a vehicle with her kids and kids to the hospital. It was a brush when the driver swung the truck, it's not an impact that he hit the lady. Thank God nobody die and the driver applied brakes in time. Only of the little girls got an injury, but beside that, the mother and the other one look like they are alright."
Reyna and her kids were transported to the hospital and one of her daughters had to undergo surgery on her right foot. The driver of the truck, Antonio Pech has been served with a notice of intended prosecution. We contacted Antonio this afternoon for comment but he refused and said that he is still dealing with the police and that he has yet to report officially to his employer.
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