A Houston Fire Department ambulance was involved in a major accident with another vehicle Wednesday afternoon, sending eight people to the hospital, KPRC Local 2 reported.
Officials said ambulance No. 48 was hit by another vehicle on Broadhurst at Almeda School Road in southwest Houston shortly after 12:30 p.m. Both the ambulance and other car, a Honda, landed in ditches on opposite sides of the road.
"They saw three teenage boys in the car. (They) had the music so loud that it just wrecked. They didn't hear the ambulance coming," witness Stephanie Alvarado said.
The ambulance flipped twice before it landed right-side up in the ditch.
"The man that was driving climbed out the window. It knocked his shoe off. He had a shoe in his hand," witness Anthony Yates said.
"They took out the patient in the ambulance and started doing CPR on him," Alvarado said.
Four firefighters were transported to a local hospital in guarded condition. Their injuries were described as non-life-threatening.
Three teenage boys in the Honda were also taken to the hospital.
The 80-year-old patient who was being transported in the ambulance died a short time later. It's not known if the accident contributed to his death because he was in critical condition at the time of the wreck.
The 19-year-old driver of the Honda does not have a license or insurance, investigators said. Witness said the driver never stopped.
"It should have seen the lights and heard the siren. The windows were down, so there's no reason why they shouldn't have heard them," an officer said.
The teenage driver was ticketed for no license, no insurance, and failure to yield the right-of-way for an emergency vehicle.
Residents in the area said one of the stop signs at the intersection is blocked by trees, and drivers frequently run it.
"The limbs are covering it up, so nobody see it. There's been a lot of accidents happen in this corner," a neighbor said.
Within an hour, another accident occurred at the same intersection.
"My son was driving. And when he pulled in, he's like, 'Mom, this guy ran a stop sign,' I'm like, 'I know, it's OK,'" Lisa Stevens said. "They run these stop signs over here all the time."
The driver in the other vehicle was ticketed for running a stop sign.
The tree is on private property, so it's up to the owner to trim it.
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