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Fire Truck Hits Ambulance, Killing Patient Racing Fire Truck Hits Ambulance, Killing Patient
(about 2 hours later)
A ladder truck racing to a building fire crashed into an ambulance carrying a heart attack victim early Thursday morning in Brooklyn, killing the patient and critically injuring his sister, who was riding with him to the hospital.A ladder truck racing to a building fire crashed into an ambulance carrying a heart attack victim early Thursday morning in Brooklyn, killing the patient and critically injuring his sister, who was riding with him to the hospital.
Six firefighters and two emergency service workers were also injured in the accident and were in stable condition at a hospital. Two people in another car were also hurt when the ambulance careened into it.Six firefighters and two emergency service workers were also injured in the accident and were in stable condition at a hospital. Two people in another car were also hurt when the ambulance careened into it.
The crash happened at around 1 a.m. at the intersection at Myrtle and Throop Avenues in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood, a time when the streets were relatively empty and quiet, police and fire officials said.The crash happened at around 1 a.m. at the intersection at Myrtle and Throop Avenues in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood, a time when the streets were relatively empty and quiet, police and fire officials said.
The victim, whom a family member identified as Jamil Almansouri, 59, was being transported to Woodhull Medical Center after having a heart attack, officials said. The victim, whom family members identified as Jamil Almansouri, 59, was being transported to Woodhull Medical Center after having a heart attack, officials said.
The ambulance was a block away from the hospital when the ladder truck, rushing to a large fire at 721 Willoughby Avenue, collided with it, hitting it broadside and sending it into another stopped car.The ambulance was a block away from the hospital when the ladder truck, rushing to a large fire at 721 Willoughby Avenue, collided with it, hitting it broadside and sending it into another stopped car.
Investigators are looking into whether scaffolding at the intersection obstructed the views of the drivers of the truck and the ambulance, an official said.Investigators are looking into whether scaffolding at the intersection obstructed the views of the drivers of the truck and the ambulance, an official said.
Mr. Almansouri was pronounced dead at Woodhull Medical Center, officials said. His sister, 35, who was riding in the back of the ambulance, was in critical but stable condition at Kings County Hospital Center. Mr. Almansouri was pronounced dead at Woodhull Medical Center, officials said. His sister, Kina Almansouri, 35, who was next to him in the back of the ambulance, was in critical but stable condition at Kings County Hospital Center.
Mr. Almansouri had just visited the doctor the day before the accident, his brother, Abdullah Ahmed, said. That night, Mr. Almansouri began complaining of having difficulty breathing, and an ambulance was called for him.Mr. Almansouri had just visited the doctor the day before the accident, his brother, Abdullah Ahmed, said. That night, Mr. Almansouri began complaining of having difficulty breathing, and an ambulance was called for him.
Mr. Almansouri had emigrated to Brooklyn from Yemen more than 20 years ago, Mr. Ahmed said, and still has children and family in that country. He owned a bodega on Quincy and Throop Avenues, Mr. Ahmed said, and was a fixture in the neighborhood where the accident occurred.Mr. Almansouri had emigrated to Brooklyn from Yemen more than 20 years ago, Mr. Ahmed said, and still has children and family in that country. He owned a bodega on Quincy and Throop Avenues, Mr. Ahmed said, and was a fixture in the neighborhood where the accident occurred.
“Almost everybody there knows him,” Mr. Ahmed said.“Almost everybody there knows him,” Mr. Ahmed said.
On Thursday, Charles Robin sat on an upturned milk crate outside the bodega, called Mike’s Deli for Mr. Almansouri’s Americanized nickname.
The corner store had its lights out and its steel gates drawn down. Mr. Robin, 69, kept an eye on a collection of votive candles that he found on the curb when he emerged from the basement, where he said Mr. Almansouri lets him sleep.
Mr. Robin said that in exchange for shelter he does small repairs in the bodega and the apartment above the store where Mr. Almansouri lived.
“He was a generous guy,” Mr. Robin said. “He was my oldest friend.”
Mr. Almansouri’s son-in-law, Walid Kassim, said that if a neighbor or relative needed money, Mr. Almansouri would lend it. “He did not hold back,” Mr. Kassim, 33, said.
Mr. Kassim said news of Mr. Almansouri’s death had sent ripples of grief through his large extended family located in Brooklyn, Florida and in his native Yemen.
“Everybody’s feeling terrible now,” said Mr. Kassim, who is married to Dhekra Kassim, 33, the oldest of Mr. Almansouri’s seven children. His two youngest are still teenagers, Mr. Kassim said.
Three of Mr. Almansouri’s children live in Sana, Yemen’s capital city, with his current wife, whom he separated from years ago and later remarried. He also has children in Brooklyn and Florida from a second marriage in the United States that ended in divorce.
With Yemen embroiled in war, Mr. Almansouri had hoped to bring the family members there to New York City, and had also tried to visit them, but was finding both difficult, Mr. Kassim said.
His adult children in Yemen were so distraught at their father’s death that they had demanded photographic proof. “They don’t even believe it. They say, ‘We want to see,’ ” said Mr. Kassim, who, like his father-in-law, owns a bodega in Bedford-Stuyvesant.
He said his wife went to dinner at Mr. Almansouri’s home on Wednesday evening, after his hospital visit and before the ambulance call, and she found him in good spirits.
“He was sitting down relaxing, talking, laughing, smiling,” Mr. Kassim said.
Kina Almansouri, the sister who rode in the ambulance, suffered broken bones in the collision but was awake and talking from her hospital bed, Mr. Kassim said
He added that the family has questions about the accident but he doubted they would sue the city to get answers or to seek compensation for their loss.
“We don’t care about stuff like that,” he said. “We just care that he left us.”