An 8-year-old boy walking to school with his older sister was fatally struck on Friday by a tractor trailer driven by a Newark man with a suspended license, police said.
Little Noshat Hassan Nahian, who was supposed to perform in a school play that morning, ran ahead of his 11-year-old sister around 8 a.m. and was crushed by the truck’s rear tires while it was making a left turn at 61st Street and Northern Boulevard, witnesses and cops said.
“The kid was wearing a hood and looking down, he kept walking and went under the truck in the middle,” said Maria Humala, 38, who was driving behind the truck. “The little girl was frozen beside him.”
An assistant principal from P.S. 152 rushed over and desperately tried to revive the unconscious boy at the scene, sources said.
His sister ran home to get their mother.
“She was crying and asking, ‘Can you ask the officer how is my son? What is going on?’” said Aisya Martine, 38, who was dropping off her son at school.
Nahian’s heartbroken father, Md. Osma Miah told reporters, “if we left the [United States], my son would not have died,” adding that he brought his family from Bangladesh six months ago and only stayed because his son didn’t want to go back.
“[My son] liked the environment, the schools and neighborhood,” Miah said through an interpreter.
The boy, who was carrying a red gift bag for his teacher, was pronounced dead at Elmhurst Hospital.
RoadTex Transportation driver, Mauricio Osoario-Palominos, 51, remained on the scene and was arrested on charges of aggravated unlicensed operation of motor vehicle and operating a vehicle in violation of safety rules.
It’s unclear why his license had been suspended.
“We did not know his license was suspended… it’s not required by federal law to check his driver’s license,” claimed Rick Valdes, Roadtex’s Safety Manager.
The New Jersey based trucking company was in hot water in 2004 when York District Court ordered them to pay $1000 in fines for having outdated and false duty records.
Parents complained that the busy intersection does not have a dedicated crossing guard.
“There has never been a crossing guard there, a lot of kids cross the street at the corner so there should be [one] there too,” said parent Rushel Hassan.
Crossing guard Shiu Change, who works a block away on 62nd Street said, “if I was there this morning it wouldn’t have happened.
Additional reporting by Philip Messing and Leonica Valentine