Results tagged “fatality”

Yesterday afternoon, a 16-year-old boy was fatally shot outside Metropolitan Diploma Plus High in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn. Malachi Cotton was standing at a city bus stop by when, the Daily News reports, "Three men approached him around 3:15 p.m., police said. The armed trio, who were targeting Cotton, fired several shots at him and then fled."

In a study due out this week, Thomas Frieden, the head of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, reveals that during the Spring in NYC "about 800,000 people—about 10% of New York City residents—got infected with the flu. That's a lot of people." In all, the virus killed 47 New Yorkers, less than 1% of those infected. But could this be just a prelude to something far worse? Dr. Harold Varmus, president of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, thinks so. A heavy report spearheaded by Varmus and the President's Council of Advisers on Science and Technology predicts that the swine flu could potentially kill between 30,000 and 90,000 Americans in the coming months, infect half of the population, and force some 1.8 million people into hospital ICUs. Frieden, however, thinks the report is over the top, and told C-SPAN, "Everything we've seen in the U.S... suggests we won't see that kind of number if the virus doesn't change." Who to trust? The Daily News could not track Varmus down for comment, probably because he's busy stocking up on canned goods and ammunition for his bunker. (Either that, or raising money to build a new MSKCC Swine Flu Research Wing.)

There's no blood on the hands of the NYPD, as usual. On Monday night the 94th Precinct held a community meeting that touched upon the fatal hit and run in Greenpoint on April 27th. Streetsblog reports that the officers denied that a high-speed chase led to the death of 38-year-old local mom Violetta Kryzak.

The Centers for Disease Control confirmed the first American death from the swine flu—a 23-month-old child from Texas died. The CDC also said the child had recently traveled to Mexico. Acting CDC chief Dr. Richard Besser told the Today Show, "Even though we've been expecting [that there would be some deaths], it is very, very sad. As a pediatrician and a parent, my heart goes out to the family." He added, "I don't think it (the reported death in Texas) indicates any change in the strain. We see with any flu virus a spectrum of disease symptoms... It's very important that people take their concern and channel it into action...it is crucial that people understand what they need to do if symptoms appear." Here's the CDC's Swine Flu & You website, which points out, "Children, especially younger children, might potentially be contagious for longer periods." (Children are also very vulnerable to the seasonal flu.)

Be careful outside: The incredibly strong wind gusts are wreaking havoc all over the area. WCBS 2 reports that a tree fell onto a car on NJ Route 22, killing the driver and that, on Long Island, a LIRR crossing gate was blown into the air, injuring four people. And the Staten Island Advance says that wind gusts played a part in a wall collapse that killed a construction worker. With wind gusts of up to 60 mph, there have been various reported of downed trees, utility poles, and scaffolding around the city. There are also power outages in the region.

A couple hours ago, a number of vehicles, including a tractor trailer and a dump truck, were involved in an accident on Route 78 in Union, NJ. WCBS 2 reports, "It appears the dump truck may have been traveling westbound and crossed over into the eastbound lanes, slamming head-on into at least two other vehicles and overturning. A tractor trailer traveling eastbound also crashed apparently after swerving out of the path of the dump truck." So far, two people are confirmed dead—and the NJ.com says they were in passenger vehicles.

When manslaughter charges against three construction supervisors (pictured) in the 2007 fatal Deutsche Bank building fire, Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau said of the tragedy, "Everyone who could have screwed up did screw up. It's just amazing the amount of mistakes that were made here."

Almost half of all accidental subway fatalities happen to riders with alcohol in their bloodstreams, according to a study by Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, which looked at data on subway deaths between 1990 and 2003. 145 of the 315 accidental fatalities during that time period were found to involve some degree of alcohol, though the report doesn't specify how blotto the victims were, if at all.

In defending the city against a lawsuit brought by the family of a San Francisco musician who died after riding the Cyclone last year, a city attorney is insisting that the roller coaster's potentially fatal dangers are "obvious." While riding the Cyclone on his birthday in July 2007, 53-year-old Keith Shirasawa fractured three neck vertebrae and died four days later after complications from surgery. In the lawsuit, his family contends that the Parks Department is at fault for not regularly inspecting the landmark ride. But city attorney Cynthia Goldman argues that "any and all risks, hazards, defects and dangers to the extent alleged are of an open, obvious, apparent and inherent nature known and should have been known to [Shirasawa]," according to court papers obtained by the Daily News. Shirasawa family attorneys blame the injury on a malfunction that made the Cyclone drop too fast, and an "antiquated" single position lap bar.

On July 31st, 2007, 53-year-old Keith Shirasawa celebrated his birthday by riding the Coney Island Cyclone. Five days later he was dead. The San Fransisco musician fractured three neck vertebrae during the Cyclone's first 85-foot drop and later died after complications from surgery. His family has now filed a lawsuit against the city, arguing that the Parks Department is at fault for not inspecting the Landmark ride regularly. (The Parks Department contracts a private company to inspect and repair the ride; the contractor is also named as a defendant.) Lawyers for the Cyclone say the accident was caused by a malfunction that made the Cyclone drop too fast, and that's been fixed. In 2007 at least seven people were injured on the 81-year-old wooden roller coaster.

Police are investigating the death of someone hit by a subway at the Union Street Station in Brooklyn. The person was struck by a southbound N train, and WABC 7 reports that a witness says the victim, apparently a male, was "pushed onto the tracks" just after 5 a.m. Currently, there are delays: NYC Transit says Bay Parkway-bound M and Bay Ridge-bound R trains are running on the N line from the Pacific Street Station to the 36th Street Station. Also, expect delays on the D, M, N and R train.

More unfortunate details about the dump truck that crashed into a parked Fung Wah bus, killing one person and injuring others: It turns out the truck was unsafe, per the Times, "three brake hoses that were severely deteriorated...inoperable brake lamps, a loose brake air reservoir, a loose brake chamber and a defective brake warning device." Great to know these vehicles are on the road.

Early this morning, a fire ripped through a three story building with a store on the ground floor and apartments above. There has been one reported fatality so far, with three people critically injured and four more residents seriously injured. The proprietor of the ground floor deli said two people ran onto his store while on fire. He was able to douse them with water

Last summer was a rough one for some riders of the 81-year-old Coney Island Cyclone; the Post reports that at least seven people were injured throughout the season while riding the roller coaster. According to Astroland operator Carole Albert’s website, the ride “has the highest safety standards in the outdoor amusement industry,” and in order to maintain that perception, Albert’s been trying to quietly settle the ensuing lawsuits out of court.

Police are still looking for men who abandoned a BMW in Queens after a fatal crash that left a 5-year-old dead. The accident occurred in the section Jamaica, at 109th Avenue and 164th Place.

In the wake of the Turtle Bay crane collapse that left 7 dead and a number of buildings devastated and damaged, The Daily News has a map showing serious crane accidents from the past three years and an investigation about crane accidents have risen.

Investigators have been looking at the nylon strap, used to help place a heavy steel collar on the crane, as a possible culprit in the Saturday's East 51st Street devastating crane collapse, but one veteran construction worker who helped dismantle the collapsed told WNBC.com the crane wasn't "properly anchored to the ground."

Investigators suspect that a nylon strap may have started a horrifying chain reaction of events that caused a crane to collapse onto other buildings. Yesterday, emergency workers found the bodies of three missing people, construction workers Santino Gallone and Clifford Canzona, and Florida resident Odin Torres who was in town visiting a friend, raising the total dead to seven. Dozens more were injured in the accident which span East 51st Street between First and Second Avenues to East 50th Street between First and Second.

Rescue crews have recovered the bodies of three people missing since Saturday's fatal crane collapse from a construction site at 303 East 51st Street onto other buildings on East 51st and East 50th Streets. These three victims were two construction workers and one woman who had been visiting a friend for St. Patrick's Day. Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta had told reporters yesterday, “We’re still calling it a search operation, though with each passing hour, things are getting more grim."

Five different car crashes in Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens have left five people dead yesterday.

Last night, a Brooklyn woman was fatally struck by a driver in a Mercedes SUV on Water Street and Old Slip in lower Manhattan. Florence Cioffi, 59, was pronounced dead at NYU Downtown Hospital.

The tragic death of a construction worker at the Trump Soho building has put the spotlight on the spotty history of a contractor on the project. On Monday afternoon, a worker, Yuriy Vanchytskyy (pictured below), fell 42 stories to his death when the molds he and other workers were pouring concrete into broke, causing a collapse into lower floors.

Dr. Charles S. Hirsch is the chief medical examiner of New York City and has overseen the autopsies on more than 100,000 people. He would probably remain a mystery to most New Yorkers, if it weren't for his ruling on the death of Det. James Zadroga, who worked clean-up at Ground Zero after September 11, 2001. Hirsch said that Zadroga's death wasn't related to Ground Zero dust, but ground-up pills the detective was allegedly injecting....

A New York state legislator stood at the entrance to the Manhattan Bridge yesterday and blamed confusing signage and roadways for the death of Sam Hindy, who was killed last week. Hindy was killed when he struck a barrier and plunged to the lower roadway of the Manhattan Bridge and struck by a car. The 27-year-old was riding from Manhattan to Brooklyn with a friend, Benjamin Price last Friday evening when they found themselves on...

A three pound rock that fell from a truck flew through a car windshield, killing the front passenger in Old Brookville. Seventy-five-year-old Rita Oill was pronounced dead at North Shore University Hospital an hour after the 10:15AM incident. She and her daughter Marie Waters were out to do some Thanksgiving shopping. The truck's driver did not stop. Newsday reports that the rock was "about five inches in circumference and about two inches in diameter" and...