Boston-bound bus hit by truck in NYC; pedestrian is killed

The scene at Bowery and Canal Street in New York, where a dump truck hit a Fung Wah bus boarding passengers for Boston. (ANNIE TRITT FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES)

A dump truck hit a parked Fung Wah bus in New York yesterday morning, creating a chain reaction that left one pedestrian dead and six others injured, police said.

Passengers were boarding the Boston-bound bus in Chinatown at 7:49 a.m. when the dump truck plowed into it, said Detective Mindy Diaz of the New York City Police Department. The driver, Alejandro Fallo, 54, lost control of the vehicle, Diaz said.

The impact propelled the bus onto the sidewalk, where it hit a fire hydrant and the front of a bank at the corner of Bowery and Canal Street.

The dump truck hit three other parked vehicles before stopping.

Lai Ho, 57, of Brooklyn was among several people waiting to cross the street when the accident happened. A sign attached to a light pole fell as a result of the crash, hitting Ho, Diaz said. She was taken to Beekman Hospital, where she was pronounced dead from a heart attack, Diaz said.

Five others, including two police officers, were treated for minor injuries and released, she said.

Fallo, who drives for New Jersey-based CPQ Freight Systems, was in the hospital in critical but stable condition. Diaz said he tested negative for alcohol. Police are now looking into whether his brakes were working correctly.

"They're trying to determine if there's going to be any criminal charges pending," she said. "But so far, it doesn't look that way."

The Fung Wah bus was almost empty, with two people boarding at the time of the crash, she said. The company, which offers low fare tickets between Boston and New York, has received negative publicity for its safety record in recent years. But in this case, there was nothing the driver could have done, Diaz said.

"They were minding their own business," she said.

Workers who answered the phone at Fung Wah's offices had no comment.

Noah Bierman can be reached at nbierman@globe.com.