A huge cement pump truck slammed into a home at 6:20 p.m. last night in the University Heights section of the Bronx. The truck's driver died, and five others were injured. The crash was so devastating that residents were evacuated over concerns about the home's stability.
According to WABC 7, "The 80,000 pound truck slammed into the house on Cedar Avenue in University Heights with so much force, it pushed the building right off its foundation, and bricks rained down, as the cab of the truck was swallowed by the house."
The truck left a huge hole in the front of the house on Cedar Avenue. Taiesha Henry, who lives there, told the Post, "The whole living room wall was busted open. You could see right outside into the street."
One victim's sister told WABC 7, "They were all around, the kids were playing, they heard the bang and my sister was like, 'come, come, let's go,' and they ran to the back because they knew something hit inside the house.. [My sister] called 911, then they called me because she was like, 'Where are you, where are you? A truck just hit the house. I'm stuck in the house. I don't know what to do.'"
1010 WINS spoke to a source who said that the truck "struck two cars after leaving the Major Deegan Expressway." And another witness told WCBS 880 that the driver was honking his horn, "The truck came speeding off the highway. He came over the grass and he was going straight into the building... He went straight into the building, and then I heard the boom... I didn’t know what to think. It happened so fast. I mean, I looked. I saw him pass and boom! He just smashed into the building."
The Red Cross is providing emergency housing to two families (four adults, two children).
