Yonkers Woman Fatally Struck By Truck In Antigua, Family Searches For Answers
YONKERS, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- A Yonkers woman has died after being run over by a truck during a celebration in Antigua earlier this week.
Nikki Phillip, 25, was celebrating the annual Carnival celebration when she was fatally struck, CBS2's Ali Bauman reported.
Now the family is searching for answers.
"Obviously it was an accident but somebody has to talk to me-- the mother," mother Novella Phillip said.
Phillip's mother and one-year-old son are waiting in Antigua until authorities release her body on Monday. But Phillip says Antigua police have not given them any information on an investigation.
"They don't talk about the driver, they don't talk about the company that owns the truck, they haven't addressed regulations," Phillip said. "No one from government agencies have contacted us -- nothing."
Tashie Phillip, Nikki's cousin, told CBS2 they were together at around 9 p.m. Tuesday when a music truck typically involved in Carnival celebrations ran Phillip over.
"It went over her feet first then it was going over her head then it reversed and it came back down and I knew it was over," Phillip said.
Those trucks are required by the festival to have barricades around their back wheels, CBS2 reported. The festival minister says he does not know if the truck was following regulations at the time of the incident.
"There were some trucks that were barricaded, but this one wasn't. There should be barricades around all trucks," Shaynah Browne, Phillip's cousin, said.
Instead of trying to place blame, the family is trying to find closure.
"She was my best friend," Nikki Phillip said.
CBS2 tried reaching out to Antigua police, but authorities said they could not provide any information until Monday.
The U.S. Embassy is closed until Monday.
