Dump Truck Driver Killed in New York Crash

Video: WNYT NewsChannel 13
By: Patrick Tine
Source: Times Union, Albany, N.Y. (TNS)

Aug. 28—BRUNSWICK—The driver of a dump truck that crashed into a home and fell partly into the basement of the weakened structure was found dead Thursday afternoon, authorities said.

For hours, rescuers hoped they would find the man alive in the wreckage of the truck and the home at 3916 Route 2, but later told reporters of the death.

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Rensselaer County Director of Public Safety Jay Wilson confirmed the driver’s death just after 1 p.m. and did not provide additional details about the driver as authorities sought to notify his family. He could not say whether the driver was killed by the crash or the collapse, or if he suffered a medical emergency while driving.

Rescuers were still in the process of extricating the driver’s body from the crash site when Wilson spoke with reporters.

“Our goal is to recover the individual with total respect to the family, and that’s what we’re going to do,” Wilson said. “We’re going to take our time.”

Removing the body would likely take hours and Route 2 would remain closed until the work was completed, Wilson said. He said that once the driver and perhaps the truck’s cab were removed, work on demolishing the building would begin.

Wilson said the truck, a three-axle tractor-trailer loaded with gravel or stone, slammed into the house with such force that the house was moved 20 feet off its foundation.

The truck rolled as it pulverized the building and flipped as the structure collapsed on top of it, Wilson said in a briefing just before noon.

Wilson said rescuers could not initially determine whether the driver was alive because of how difficult it was to reach the truck’s cab, which he said had fallen into the house’s basement.

“The entrapment (of the driver’s body) is very extreme, and the building condition is very, very brittle,” Wilson said. “Any movement of something could cause a total collapse, which would set us back even more.”

A large truck carrying “enough lumber to build a house” arrived to stabilize the structure early Thursday afternoon, and a large crane was trucked onto the site as Wilson spoke to reporters.

No one was inside the home at the time of the crash, though the homeowner was on the property, Wilson said. The owner had been rehabbing the structure to sell it. Wilson said the house will be condemned.

The homeowner heard but did not see the crash and briefly tried to access the cab before emergency crews arrived.

“It was very hard for him,” Wilson said. “It happened so quickly.”

The crash and rescue had proven to be an immense technical challenge for emergency crews, engineers and workers trying to clear the site. “Most of the people here have never seen anything like this before,” Wilson said. “This is a pretty bad situation.”

Specialized rescue teams, including an urban technical search and rescue squad with the state Office of Fire Prevention and Control, were arriving at the scene throughout the late morning. Wilson said a host of area emergency response agencies were working or en route to the scene, including a team from the city of Albany.

Wilson said the State Police took the lead on the investigation, though it did not appear foul play was a factor.

Officials have not offered a cause for the crash.

Wilson urged drivers to avoid Route 2. The road will be closed well into the late afternoon, if not longer, Wilson said.