Man Dead, Sister Critical After Fire Truck Collides With Ambulance In Brooklyn
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A Brooklyn man was killed when a fire truck crashed into the ambulance he was in early Thursday morning.
His sister, who rode with him for support, is now in critical condition.
The family told CBS2 she is a 35-year-old mother of four, and her youngest child is just a 1-year-old.
Police said the ambulance was transporting 59-year-old Jamil Almansouri, who went by Mike, to Woodhull Hospital due to an apparent heart attack.
The NYPD said the fire truck responding to a nearby fire was traveling eastbound on Myrtle Avenue in Bedford-Stuyvesant at around 1 a.m. At the same time, the ambulance was traveling northbound on Throop Avenue, CBS2's Alice Gainer reported.
The fire truck struck the ambulance on the driver's side, causing the ambulance to spin around and hit an SUV with two adults inside. They suffered minor injuries, police said.
As for the first responders, two EMTs and six firefighters were listed in stable condition.
Watch the moment of the accident happened involving a @FDNY EMS and FDNY Ladder 102 Fire Truck. pic.twitter.com/w4OYoX5Qqh
— WILLIAMSBURG NEWS (@WMSBG) September 17, 2020
Almansouri's family said he was killed in the crash.
"I can't believe that he's passed away to this moment," his brother, Abdullah Ahmat, said.
"He called me and said 'your brother died.' I said, 'What happened?' He said, 'accident,'" another brother added.
"We was upstairs, we was laughing and everything. And then he felt something going on. My mom was like, 'let me take him,'" said his nephew, Muhanand Hassan.
Now, Hassan's mother is fighting for her own life.
"This just feels like a dream," he said. "Why [are] you running real fast and hit them? They didn't do nothing."
BREAKING: Police say a 59yo man has died in Brooklyn, after a fire truck collided with the ambulance he was riding in. EMS was transporting him to the hospital for an apparent heart attack. His loved one along for the ride is in critical condition now too pic.twitter.com/U0YtpnUfIg
— John Dias (@JohnBDias) September 17, 2020
The family only found out what happened when she stopped responding to text messages and phone calls from her husband. Her phone was found in the ambulance.
"'OK when you get to the hospital, send me what hospital you're going to, so we can come visit,'" said friend Nabeel Yahya. "She doesn't answer. So he was following the phone on the GPS and came here."
Almansouri was a father of five and a grandfather.
"God bless him. He was a good grandpa to me. He gave me everything I need," his grandson, Khaled Kassim, said.
The family owns a deli a mile from the scene and lives above it. Neighbors started a small memorial there for him.
"He was a good person, beautiful soul," said one person.
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