At least two pedestrians were struck by a pickup truck driver on Broad Street around 1:15 p.m. today, and according to the NYPD one of the victims is not likely to survive. The accident occurred near the New York Stock Exchange at 45 Broad Street, in front of the Leman Prep School. One tipster who works in the area tells us, "There's a bomb checkpoint with rotating bollards. They use pickup trucks filled with sand when the bollards break which is quite often. Today the guy had the truck in the wrong gear or something. He hit 3 people and pinned one guy to the school."
The FDNY says one woman was rushed to New York Downtown Hospital with minor injuries, and an unidentified man was taken with very serious injuries. (The FDNY did not have any information about a third victim.) According to the NYPD, the driver remained on the scene and there is no criminality suspected.
UPDATE: Witnesses seem to agree that the victim was struck by a driver of a security truck.
@nyscanner@the_analyst It looked as though the security truck pinned him against a building. He may have hit the gas instead of brake— Stephanie Heliker (@stephiejeanne) August 23, 2012
Brian Godleski, witness to man hit by pickup truck in lower Manhattan says he heard a woman say "he died in my arms."
— Ryan Gorman (@GormoJourno) August 23, 2012
It looks like someone was hit by a truck on Broad St. just south of the NYSE. Appears to have been one of the trucks security uses.
— The Last Badasstion (@lastbadasstion) August 23, 2012
Another worker in the area writes in to tell us, "There are two silver pickup trucks that the NYSE (I presume) has been using to block traffic on Broad Street just south of Wall and the Stock Exchange. When an authorized vehicle needs to be let through, the trucks back up into spots to let passengers through. Today around 1:30 one pinned a man to a wall. He was rushed to the hospital but it did not look good.
"This is a horrible accident of course but I am mostly writing in because it's worth knowing that these security trucks have a reputation for driving in an erratic fashion. There is no need for them to be gassing or reversing so quickly. There is normally a rotating traffic gate (for lack of a better term) that is used; not sure what the story is as to why those are not in effect as it would seem much safer given all the pedestrians that are moving in and out of that area."
Update 3:15 p.m.: A man who works less than a block away, Matt Petrillo, was walking to lunch when the accident happened. He writes in with this: "Blood still stains the sidewalk where a man was struck by a silver truck at 25 Broad Street, just a few building away from the NYSE building. A man driving the truck accidentally accelerated instead of braking, lost control and smashed into a man, killing him.
"A woman was almost struck, but was walking with her boyfriend when he pushed her out of the way and dodged the car, himself. Two fire trucks, two ambulances and dozens of police came on the scene at 1:40, clearing the area."
Update 4 p.m.: A source tells NBC New York the man has died, and one witness, Peter Andrews, tells us, "He sustained a horrible leg injury and lost a huge amount of blood. Its crazy how quickly life can be change. I walk past the same spot twice a day. Its just a shame because the Stock Exchange has a vehicle security system that doesn’t involve the trucks but it wasn’t working. I saw them repairing it last night. If that’s working, those trucks aren’t even out there."
