ZINGTAPAN
An Upper East Side hospital worker was struck by a yellow cab and dragged halfway down the block yesterday — trapped under a tire until good Samaritans managed to lift the taxi minivan off her in a futile bid to save her life.
More than a dozen passers-by sprang to the aid of Sloan-Kettering employee Pelagia Zingtapan, 65, who died after the horrific accident at around 1 p.m. on the corner of 69th Street and First Avenue.
“I heard a screech, and then everybody ran across the street and lifted up the van,” said witness Jasmine Adams.
Andreas Andreaou, manager at nearby Patsy’s Pizzeria, said, “About 15 to 20 people lifted [it], and they pulled her out, and somebody started giving her compressions.
“She wasn’t responsive at all.”
Zingtapan was rushed to nearby Weill Cornell Medical Center, where she died.
Zingtapan, of Queens, had just returned to her job as a medical secretary at Sloan-Kettering, where she had worked for more than 20 years, after visiting her sister and relatives in California.
“This was her first day back,” said Zingtapan’s grieving cousin and roommate, Feliz Araneta, 72.
“I’m supposed to be the one to go out before her,” added Araneta, who has a stent in her heart. “She’s the best friend . . . loving and very caring.”
Zingtapan had been returning from lunch with a friend when the cabbie tore westbound across 69th Street, honking his horn, witnesses said.
They said the driver was trying to make the yellow light. Pedestrians including Zingtapan were already crossing 69th.
Zingtapan’s companion jumped out of the way, but she “froze” in the middle of the crosswalk, witnesses said.
Additional reporting by Larry Celona, Rebecca Harshbarger