A loose manhole cover became airborne and flew through the windshield of a tractor-trailer on a Bronx highway Wednesday — killing the driver and causing him to strike another rig.
José Duran, 35, of Springfield, Mass., was driving his 2010 rig west on the Cross Bronx Expressway at about 5:25 a.m. when the plate struck him in the head, according to police sources.
Investigators believe it was dislodged by another vehicle passing over it.
Duran’s truck swerved into a tractor-trailer in the westbound passing lane next to it, cops said. The 31-year-old driver of the second rig was not injured, according to police.
Duran suffered massive head trauma and was rushed to Lincoln Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Robert Sinclair, spokesman for AAA in New York, said it’s the first time he’s ever heard of a manhole cover being dislodged by a car.
“That’s a tragic, tragic accident,” he said. “I’ve heard of cables shorting out and blowing them into the air, but this is the first I can remember of anything like this.”