A Department of Transportation worker was killed early Tuesday morning while performing road work. The man died after his coworker reversed a dump truck into him, running him over.
The DOT crew had been repaving East 88th Street overnight when the tragedy occurred. Police say they responded to a 911 call about a worker struck in front of 521 East 88th Street just after 1 a.m. Upon their arrival, they found Eduardo Calleabril, 44, unconscious and unresponsive on the street, with trauma about his body. EMS took Calleabril to New York Presbyterian-Weill Cornell Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.
According to the NYPD's Collision Investigation Squad, investigators say that Calleabril had been standing behind a DOT Mack dump truck when his 35-year-old colleague started to reverse the truck, backing up and hitting Calleabril. Calleabril then fell into the road, "with the truck rolling over him," police say.
A witness who lives in the area told PIX 11, "I was woken up by some frantic screaming. People screaming 'no, stop,' 'back up, stop.' When I went to look to the window and it appeared across the street that one of the workers, the road pavers, was crushed by a dump truck."
Crying DOT workers were seen leaving candles and flowers at the scene. The police are investigating the incident.
