A private ambulance crashed head-on into a luxury SUV on Staten Island this evenign, killing a retired EMS Lieutenant and another man and leaving two others injured, authorities said.
The unidentified driver of a BMW SUV was ejected and died instantly after crossing the median on Hylan Boulevard near Seacrest Avenue in Eltingville and striking the ambulance at 7:05 p.m.
David Ford, who was driving behind the ambulance, said he saw the BMW driver ejected.
“After I hit the brakes, I saw him lying on my left,” Ford, 24, said.
“He wasn’t moving, I knew he was dead,” he said.
Retired NYPD cop Joe Bonamo said he rushed over to help the wounded.
“There was a big cloud of smoke. I pulled over to assist the ambulance, just trying to help,” Bonamo, 53, said.
The driver of the ambulance, David Restuccio, 58 — a retired FDNY EMS Lieutenant who was a first responder on 9/11 — later died at the hospital, officials said.
The second paramedic, Yusuke Yonehara, 34, and the patient, a man in his 30s, were in stable condition at Staten Island University North, a hospital spokeswoman said.
Robert Genco was driving his Dodge Neon next to the ambulance when his vehicle was clipped.
“I’m really lucky, a second later that could have been me,” Genco, 57, said.