Nov. 29--Two people died after a car and a private garbage truck collided in Inwood early Saturday, sparking an inferno that engulfed both vehicles, Nassau police said.
The boom of the crash was followed by a flash of light, then darkness as about 300 homes in the area temporarily lost power after the vehicles slid into a utility pole, witnesses said. Hours after the wreck, the BMW sedan could be seen crushed and charred -- still pinned broadside to the front of the truck.
The driver and a passenger in the BMW were pronounced dead at the scene, and the male truck driver was taken to a hospital, police said.
The garbage truck was returning to D. Daniels Contracting Ltd., about three blocks from the crash site, according to the owner, Dave Daniels. Daniels said his employee was treated for minor injuries and released, but was rocked emotionally by what he saw -- and being unable to help.
"When you're there, and you're screaming for help, and no one is helping you, and you're watching . . .," Daniels said of the driver. "And he was trying to get to the car." He added: "It's a shame. So close to the holidays, three people have their lives ruined."
Det. Lt. Richard LeBrun said the vehicles burst into flames after a "violent impact." The BMW was traveling south on Sheridan Boulevard about 4:15 a.m. when it collided with the truck heading west on Bayview Avenue.
Investigators couldn't immediately determine the cause of the accident, and the identities of the victims weren't released. "It's going to be very, very difficult to identify the bodies right now," LeBrun said at the scene.
Witnesses in the area were stunned by the impact of the crash. Kelly Kinchen, 37, of Far Rockaway, said she was at a bodega a few blocks away when "all of a sudden the whole sky got lit." Kinchen and her friends drove up Sheridan and saw flames shooting 15 feet in the air, she said.
The truck driver, she said, managed to climb out and was taken away in an ambulance.
"Nobody came out of the car," Kinchen said. Earlene Hancock, 66, who lives on Bayview, said she was talking to her mother on the phone when she heard the crash. "It was like -- boom! Like a bomb or something going off," Hancock said.
Carlos Gomez said he was working around the corner at a frozen-food company when he heard what sounded like a couple of explosions. Then the power went out.
Gomez, 48, ran to the scene but retreated when he saw the flames threatened to ignite power lines. He said he saw three young people -- two women and a man -- pull over on Sheridan in a blue Honda moments after the wreck.
They briefly ran toward the fire, he said, screaming and crying "Somebody help! Get them out of there!"
Xeomara Trinidad, 18, who lives on Sheridan, said she also saw a woman screaming for help.
"This lady was telling people to help the other people, but nobody could do anything because it exploded," Trinidad said.
With Laura Blasey and David Olson ___ (c)2015 Newsday
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