A 55-year-old Queens woman was fatally run over by the driver of a Q47 bus in Elmhurst at approximately 10 p.m. last night. The NYPD says the woman, Melania Ward, was "crossing Astoria Boulevard, south to north, in the marked intersection, when a Q47 MTA bus, traveling north on 80 Street, proceeded to make a right turn onto eastbound Astoria Boulevard." Ward was killed in the intersection.
EMS responding to the scene found Ward unconscious and unresponsive, and transported her to Elmburst Hospital, where she was pronounced DOA. The bus driver remained on the scene and has not been charged, but the NYPD says the investigation is ongoing. An NYPD spokesman could not say if Ward had the right of way.
The Daily News reports that Ward, who resided blocks away from where she died, was a passenger on the bus that killed her, and was run over shortly after exiting at her stop. "She was sitting next to me on the bus," witness Jan Lim told the tabloid. Lim added that he ran to Ward as she lay dying on the street: "She was crying. I said don't fall asleep, keep breathing."
The MTA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
