Yesterday, a horrifying accident occurred on the Bronx River Parkway: A minivan traveling south near East 180th Street apparently hit a jersey barrier median, so the driver, Maria Gonzalez, 45, tried to correct the vehicle by turning right. But, as Police Commissioner Kelly characterized it, the turn was a "severe turn, right-hand turn" and the minivan went "over the [side], which is a 60-foot drop." Gonzalez; her 10-year-old daughter Jocelyn; her elderly parents, Jacob Nunez, 85, and Ana Julia Martinez, 81; and her sister Maria Nunez, 39, and her sister's daughter, Niely Rosario, 7, and Marly Rosario, 3, all died.
The recovery was made difficult because there was a lot of brush—the minivan landed on the property of the Bronx Zoo (far from the public or animals—it's mostly storage for the zoo's monorail). Deputy chief with EMS Howard Sickles told the Wall Street Journal, "The injuries were quite horrific. In 30 years, I've seen something like this once or twice. Everybody was taken aback by it…it's very upsetting."
Gonzalez's brother, Ignazio Nunez, said the group had been traveling the five-mile trip from Maria Nunez's house in Bronxwood to Gonzalez's home in Soundview. And Gonzalez's husband, Juan Gonzalez, a livery cab driver, told the Daily News, "I don’t want to live anymore. I’m destroyed... I don’t want to be alive." His 18-year-old son Jonel said, "It’s just me and my father, my little brother. It’s hard." Little Jocelyn had just had her first Communion on Saturday, and her grandparents had come from the Dominican Republic for the event.
The Post reports, "Police sources shot down reports of a possible blown tire, saying there was no evidence of one. Investigators are looking at the vehicle’s speed and weight as factors in the crash." This part of the Bronx River Parkway is apparently known as the "Bermuda Triangle" and a lawyer who has sued the city on behalf of parties injured there told the Daily News, "We did a lot of discovery of state records, and we found there was a problem. Traffic would slow down very quickly, and sometimes cars would lose control. They considered putting a new lane, but they didn’t do it because they were considering replacing the whole viaduct."
Last year, Bronx district leader Michael Robles drove off the side, but somehow he and his passenger survived. Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. said yesterday, "For the second time in a year, an accident on the Bronx River Parkway has led to a car falling off the highway to the streets below. In the coming weeks my office will reach out to the appropriate agencies to examine the safety issues on the Bronx River Parkway and to discuss potential solutions, such as road condition and barrier/fence height, to this issue."
Jonel Gonzalez added that his mother had recently started work as a maintenance worker at Fordham, to help pay for college. Fordham confirmed that Gonzalez and Maria Nunez worked there, "It is hard to imagine a more tragic loss for a family, nor a more terrible grief than their loved ones must be enduring. “The friends and co-workers of the victims, and the entire Fordham community, hold the Gonzalez and Nunez families in their hearts tonight, and our thoughts and prayers are with their family members, their loved ones and their friends."
