EAST HARLEM — A man was fatally hit by a charter bus full of children in East Harlem on Wednesday afternoon, according to the FDNY and witnesses.
The man was crossing Second Avenue at East 99th Street mid-block when he was struck by the southbound Academy bus carrying children around 3:50 p.m., police and witnesses said.
When police arrived on scene, the 39-year-old man was unconscious and unresponsive with trauma to his body, according to the NYPD. Emergency medical personnel pronounced him dead when they arrived.
The bus driver, a 57-year-old man police did not name, stayed on the scene and had not been charged as of Wednesday night, according to the NYPD.
Police are withholding the victim's name until the family is notified.
Locals said that the speed of the buses in the area has been a concern.
"They don't enforce the speed here. It's too congested," said Adah Carrion, who lives in the area. "Something needed to happen here to get something [to change]."
"I work on the corner and the buses always go fast through here," said contractor Domingo Cruz, 42.
Academy could not immediately be reached for comment.
Police shut down East 97th Street to East 100th Street on Second Avenue while investigating.