MIAMI (WSVN) - A woman pushing her baby in a stroller was struck and killed by a dump truck in Miami, police said.
City of Miami Police units responded to the scene, located in the area of Northeast 22nd Street and Biscayne Boulevard, Wednesday afternoon.
7Skyforce hovered over the scene, where police and rescue crews assessed the situation.
According to Miami Fire Rescue, the woman was found underneath the truck after crossing the street. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police later identified the victim as 33-year-old Jaklin Sabag.
Investigators said that there was a standstill on Biscayne Boulevard, and the truck’s driver did not see Sabag crossing the street.
“The victim in this case was crossing in front of the truck, not at the pedestrian crosswalk. The truck, obviously, didn’t see that she was in front of it and proceeded to move forward as she was still in front of the truck, and unfortunately, he ran over her,” said Miami Police Officer Michael Vega.
Detectives said that the truck driver wasn’t driving above five miles an hour, according to reviewed surveillance video.
“Not only did she cross in front of him, but when she got to the double yellow lines, she actually stopped to look at traffic going northbound, to make sure she wouldn’t get hit, not knowing that she is standing in front of this big truck that won’t see her.” said Vega.
When the driver realized they may have hit something, police said, he stopped the vehicle.
Multiple people in the area rushed to the scene and were able to hold on to the 8-month-old baby until he was transported to Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial.
Despite the damage to the stroller, the baby is expected to be OK.
Fire rescue trucks arrived at the scene with trucks to lift the vehicle off Sabag’s body.
The truck driver, police said, was cooperative. Detectives said he did the right thing by staying.
“Beside our officers here, we also have our police chaplains, two of them, that are here talking to them and trying to comfort them because how heartbreaking is it that on Valentine’s Day, you’re crossing, you’re just driving, and you just killed somebody,” said Vega. “It’s heartbreaking. It must have a psychological effect on the person that actually ran her over. But we have our chaplains here that are actually talking to them, praying for them and offering comfort in this hard time.”
Police said that the person who helped the baby was distraught.
A friend of the victim spoke to 7News over the phone and said she was the kindest, sweetest, best person she knows, and she can’t believe it happened to her.
People who stopped to see what happened were shaken when they heard the details of this accident.
“Everyone just needs to be aware of their surroundings, aware of people on bicycles riding their bicycles,” said Tasha Insua. “They need to be aware of the cars, cars need to be aware of the people on the bicycle, people crossing the street. Just take a little bit more time. Somebody just lost their mom, baby just lost their mom.”
“It was a black stroller, but it was kind of destroyed. The police took it in one of their cars,” said Juan Camilo Giron, who was nearby when the crash happened. “I think it’s crazy that today, on Valentine’s Day, a lot of stuff has been happening in Miami.”
Giron was running in the area when he saw the crash. He said the driver was in shock.
“When the guy saw it, he just put his hands there, and like he did not know how to react,” said Giron. “Like, he wasn’t sure about what was going on, for the way that he was just walking and coming in and out like this.”
The medical examiner later arrived at the scene.
Police have reopened the roadways, between Northeast 19th to 23rd streets, as they continue to investigate.
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