A baby girl was killed in a freak accident in New Jersey today when a bus struck a lamppost, which then toppled onto the infant in her stroller as her horrified mom watched, authorities said.
The girl’s mother was pushing the stroller on Boulevard East near 56th Street in West New York at 12:54 p.m. when a private Sphinx shuttle bus lost control and hit the decorative black lamppost.
The lamppost snapped at its base and struck 8-month -old Angela Paredes of 79th Street in North Bergen on the head, authorities said.
Juan Alvarez, 59, who works at the Yale Club in Manhattan, said cops quickly responded and that one officer performed CPR on little Angela.
“I came out just afterwards and the mom was on her knees, crying, saying ‘Please, please save my baby!’ ” Alvarez said. “When the police officer lifted her up, blood came from her head.”
Christina Rodriguez, 22, was sleeping in her apartment across the street when the noise of the impact woke her.
“I went to my balcony, because I heard screaming. The mother was crying, she threw herself to the ground. The baby’s head was so bloody,” she said.
The baby and her mother, who was not injured, were rushed to the Jersey City Medical Center. The unidentified bus driver, in a neck brace, was also taken to the hospital.
Hudson County Sheriff Frank Schillari said speed and driver distraction may have been factors in the accident.
Neighbor Jose Serra told nj.com the bus stopped at Boulevard East to drop off passengers, but then took off at high speed, crashed into the lamppost and careened into a tree and another lamppost before striking several parked cars.
A Sphinx Transportation employee said company officials had no comment.