That’s one way to exit a building!
A city salt-spreading truck rammed through the wall of a Queens Sanitation Department repair shop at 9:30 a.m. today and wound up dangling three stories in the air as the horrified driver cried for help.
“I heard a loud bang and turned and I saw this truck sticking out of the side of the building,” said Frank Almona, who owns a nearby repair shop.
“The driver was screaming like crazy, he was saying, ’Help, help, help.’ He was hanging on. He looked like he was in shock.
It’s unclear why driver Robert Legall – a 10-year veteran of the Sanitation Department with a clean record – lost control of the 16-ton vehicle, said Sanitation Commissioner John J. Doherty.
“There are signs up there warning drivers to slow down,” Doherty said. “He’s familiar with the rules and everyone needs to be safety conscious, so we think it was just an unfortunate accident.”
The massive orange salt spreader truck is the property of the Department of Corrections, and is used to keep the roads clear at Rikers Island.
It had been brought to the facility at 52-35 58th Street Woodside to be made ready for next winter by mechanics from the Sanitation Department.
It burst through the wall of a repair bay, sending a shower of heavy concrete raining down on the street. At least two cars were crushed by the wall fragments, but no passers by were hurt.
The vehicle wound up hanging about three-quarters of the way out at a 45-degree angle to the ground.
“[Legall] was lucky he didn’t go though that front windshield,” said Doherty. “Holding onto the steering wheel saved his life. We’re all very fortunate. That’s the story of today. . Everyone is alive.”
Legall was eventually pulled to safety though the truck window by a cherry picker from the FDNY’s Ladder Company 163.
“The driver looked like he was really in shock,” said Dell Smith, 36, who works at a nearby company. “They had to bust out the driver’s side window and lift him out. He looked unconscious, and he was a big guy too. I’m glad he made it out alive.”
Legall was taken to Elmhurst Hospital in stable condition. By 1:20 p.m. today, the truck was still hanging out of the building, while officials wait for a heavy crane to arrive.