Car Fatally Hits Child Playing with Fire Hydrant

A 6-year-old girl was killed after a car struck her while she was playing in an open fire hydrant last night. A witness said, "She was running across the street, and the car just hit her, and it dragged her up the street."

Police were going through eyewitnesses accounts about what vehicle hit Mimah Bangoura: Some say it was a minivan that fled East 166th Street between Sherman and Sheridan Avenues, while others say it was a livery cab driver. Witnesses say the driver's (or drivers') vision could have been impaired by the water when it hit the windshield.

The livery cab driver, Yaro Dramane, took the child to the hospital, where she died. He was questioned and is currently charged with driving without a license. The police are still investigation the incident, and Boubacar Bangoura, the child's father, tearfully said, "I'm going to miss her so much. If you drive and you know that there are kids around, please drive safe."

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By Jen Chung in News on June 10, 2008 8:17 AM

Comments [rss]

IvoryJive

Interesting comments. My take is that our streets are too dangerous and children don't have enough safe places to play near their homes. I vote they permanently close the street to vehicle traffic and make it the Mimah Bangoura Memorial Play Street.

The Edge

I would think that anyone who actually grew up in NYC would have, at some point in their young lives, played with open hydrants.

Just sayin'.

Jen S

#9, I'm whiter than white, and as a kid I used to play in hydrants in South Philly. Calm down with your generalizations, please.

JacqueMehoff

you just can't win.

playing in the streets in the 30's 40's

50's 60's 70's etc. I'm sure you got that mass e-mailing which starts "How did we survive...."

Albert Sharpton

If the livery cab had a sprinkler cap on board, this would of been prevented. I'm going to protest if the driver is white. It's the right thing to do.

Snoopy

If the hydrant had a sprinkler cap it is totally legal to open it. Sprinkler caps are available at the local precinct.

A six year old in the street, unsupervised is not a good idea.

Polemicist

Opening fire hydrants is dangerous and irresponsible, and is tolerated only because it is common amongst a particular ethnic group.

Not only is it dangerous to the children, it makes it impossible to fight a fire in fairly significant, but variable, radius around the opened fire hydrant. Fire hydrants are not toys.

The reality is the person who opened the fire hydrant should be charged with manslaughter.

JenChungsBaby

It doesn't say if the hydrant was opened legally (with a spray cap) or illegally. Either way, if you can't see where you're driving then you shouldn't proceed (if that was the case, who knows).

Chosun

At least the livery driver had the decency to take the kid to the hospital. It's a shame, but it's never a good idea to let your kids play in the streets. I mean, I understand the father's call for people to drive safely, but he should've also said to keep your kids out of the streets.

cuntry

shutup jesq go back to ohio, opening hydrants is an amazing past time, kids play in the street here no matter what and the water from a hydrant is a warning if anything.

you have a lot of nerve, you disgust me.

have fun watching annoying star wars, loser.

god bless my little hydrant child.

Jesq

One more reason that the city should crack down on the bastards that open the fire hydrants

bklynd

It's probably supposed to instill a sense of scholarship in the kids. Like uniforms.

JMH

I know this is a tremendously callous thing of me to say, and I recognize that this is a tragedy, but:

Do they really give kids caps and gowns at their kindergarten graduations these days? It seems excessive, doesn't it?

ed_Extinct

It doesn't say inside the fire hydrant, it says she was playing in an open fire hydrant. Meaning (which is pretty clear), she was playing in the water near the fire hydrant.