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2 People Seriously Hurt in Garbage Truck Crash, FDNY Says

By  Trevor Kapp and Aidan Gardiner | April 22, 2014 8:08am | Updated on April 22, 2014 10:03am

 The garbage truck collided with another vehicle near Columbus Circle about 5:30 a.m., witnesses said.
The garbage truck collided with another vehicle near Columbus Circle about 5:30 a.m., witnesses said.
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DNAinfo/Trevor Kapp

COLUMBUS CIRCLE — Two people were seriously injured when a garbage truck rear-ended a delivery truck that had stopped near Columbus Circle Tuesday morning, witnesses and officials said.

The private garbage truck, which belonged to Isabella City Carting, was driving southbound on Ninth Avenue when it slammed into the back of a stopped delivery truck near 58th Street about 5:30 a.m., according to witnesses and the FDNY.

The delivery truck's driver and a Sanitation worker were both taken to the hospital with serious injuries but in stable condition, police and the FDNY said. One was taken to Cornell hospital while the other went to Bellevue, the FDNY said.

''The delivery truck stopped to make a delivery — some milk or something — then the garbage truck just smashed into it from behind," said Rasoul Mohammad, 52, a food cart vendor who witnessed the crash.

''It was a very loud sound," Mohammad continued. "I saw one guy on a stretcher. He wasn't bleeding, but they put a neck brace on him. I didn't see him moving. They took him away in an ambulance.''

John Isabella, the owner of Isabella City Carting, rushed to the scene following the accident.

"The helper just had a bad laceration to his calf. He's okay," Isabella, 46, said of the sanitation worker. "Trucks can be replaced. I'm just happy he didn't lose a leg."