Bus Kills 6-Year-Old Boy, Injures Brother Crashing Into New York House
A 6-year-old boy was killed when a bus crashed into his Long Island home, and his 7-year-old brother was injured.
David Santana, 6, was sleeping when the bus smashed into his home around 9:30 p.m. Tuesday in Hempstead, N.Y., the New York Daily News reported.
“He was just in a bad spot,” Hempstead Police Sgt. Mark Kirichenko told the New York Post.
The bus crashed into the house after trying to avoid hitting a pedestrian, according to the Post. Another pedestrian and 11 passengers on the bus were injured as well, but the jaywalking pedestrian walked away unhurt.
The bus driver honked his horn three times to get the pedestrian’s attention, but the walker kept crossing against the light, a police spokesman said.
“He tries to avoid him and is forced to make a hard right turn, hops the curb and strikes the house,” the spokesman said, according to the Post.
David’s brother, Josue, was awake at the time of the crash, according to Antonio Villagran, who shares the house with the Santana family.
“The two boys were supposed to be sleeping, but the little one was up,” Villagran, 50, told the Daily News. “He happened to be walking in the spot the bus hit ... I heard a big ‘Boom!’ and I thought it was the end of the world.”
The brothers were taken to Winthrop-University Hospital, where David was declared dead and Josue was treated for cuts he suffered from flying glass, the Daily News reported.
“He’s okay,” said a cousin at the hospital, according to the paper. “He’s got a cut on his arm, but he’s going to be okay.”
The driver of the Nassau Inter County Express bus is not expected to face criminal charges, according to the Post.
“NICE is cooperating with police officials, and has its own team investigating the incident,” a spokesman for the bus company told the paper.
The boys’ family emigrated from El Salvador to New York nine years ago, neighbors told the Daily News.
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