A 59-year-old man was on his way home from a birthday party with his wife in Brooklyn when a bus pole suddenly struck him, police say.
A Brooklyn man has died after a pole fell on top of him in a horrific freak accident last week, according to reports. Police say an MTA bus struck the pole that then toppled onto 59-year-old Lance Margolin, who was walking on the sidewalk on Eastern Parkway, a long road that stretches across portions of Brooklyn, ABC 7 reported.
Margolin was on his way back from a birthday party with his wife and friends around 7 p.m. when an MTA bus tried to navigate around a disabled vehicle Thursday, according to the outlet. The pole fell and struck Margolin, who was taken to the hospital with head and body injuries.
"It was a freak accident," a friend who witnessed the event told ABC. "All of a sudden, we heard a bang so my friend grabbed me."
The friend then described seeing Margolin on the floor with the pole on top of him.
After clinging to life, Margolin passed away last weekend.
"This is a tragedy for all involved," MTA Bus Company President Craig Cipriani wrote in a statement. "Our thoughts are with the victim's family as they deal with a terrible loss. We are fully cooperating with the NYPD's investigation, and the bus operator has been withheld from passenger service pending a thorough internal review."
