A boom truck somehow collapsed into a Bronx street and landed on top of a vehicle as a woman sat inside, authorities say. Miraculously, she wasn't badly hurt, even though the heavy machinery flattened her car like a pancake.
Rescue workers pulled the woman, 22-year-old Danielle Cruz, out of the car shortly after the 10:30 a.m. crane accident on Jerome Avenue and Bedford Park Boulevard, sources said. They added that she was conscious and alert.
Cruz told NBC New York that she was driving to school, heading to class at Lehman College when the crane came crashing down as she was stopped at a red light.
"The whole thing came down on my car, it happened like fast and slow at the same time," Cruz said. "I remember the glass shattering and hitting me and the roof of the car caving down and hitting my head."
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Surveillance video showed several witnesses rush to help Cruz, who was stuck inside the crushed car. As they ran toward the vehicle, some feared the worst — but incredibly, Cruz was alive.
"I tried to get out of the car and the door wasn’t opening so this guy he ran to the car and he like opened the door and grabbed me," she told News 4.
Ticey Williams, one of those who rushed to help, said that Cruz was visibly scared as she was trapped inside, with the door jammed shut. He said there was blood on her hands and face. Cruz was very thankful who rushed to help her in her time of need.
"I want to say to you guys you were my ray of hope. Like when I couldn’t open that door and I saw your faces," she said.
The FDNY said she was taken to a hospital, where her mother rushed to meet her from work for an emotional reunion.
"When I saw the video of the surveillance that’s when I really got shaken up because it could have been a lot worse," said mother Eileen Santana.
"People were telling me that I am here for a purpose I’m suppose to be here. It just reminded me what I’m here for," said Cruz, who was able to laugh about the incident afterward.
"Honestly I’m glad that I’m short," she said with a chuckle. "Because if I was three inches taller, that would have been it."
Video posted to the Citizen app showed a heavy emergency response at the scene, and the road remained closed hours after the incident, not reopening until much later in the night. Part of what appeared to be a boom truck appeared stretched over the street as firefighters and onlookers stood by. About 29 workers at a nearby construction site were told to leave the premises as a precaution pending a Department of Buildings evaluation.
Buildings officials say the boom truck was lifting a load of rebar from a trailer onto the roof of the construction project when the arm failed and collapsed onto the road. It landed atop the boom truck and the woman's car.
The department said its investigation is ongoing and enforcement actions are possible depending on what it finds. As inspectors work to determine why the truck collapsed, NBC New York learned that the contractor did have the proper permits for the ongoing construction.
