Man Dies Of Severe Head Trauma After Bus Knocks Pole Down Onto Him

A man, 59, was killed in Brooklyn, New York, last week after an MTA bus crashed into a street pole that fell on him.

The bus was trying to navigate around a "disabled vehicle" on the road when its side mirror hit the pole, knocking it down, a spokesperson for the New York Police Department told People Tuesday.

The pole fell on top of the man, Lance Margolin, who was walking on the sidewalk eastbound on Eastern Parkway near Utica Avenue, said police.

This resulted in Margolin getting severe head trauma and bodily injuries. He was taken to NYC Health & Hospitals/Kings County, where he was pronounced dead Saturday, police said.

He was walking home from a birthday party with his wife, Karen Balestire, and friends. "It was a freak accident," said Margolin's friend Joanne.

"All of a sudden, we heard a bang, so my friend grabbed me and held me until, and then looked, and then I said 'Oh my God, not Karen,' because it was right by where her and Lance were standing. So I ran over, and it was Lance on the floor, and the pole was on top of him. My friend Steven picked up the pole, he lifted the pole, I don't know how, but he lifted the pole, and I was screaming for somebody to help him," she added.

Balestire said that the pole "just missed me and hit him. I was right next to him."

The NYPD's Highway District's Collision Investigation Squad is currently investigating. "This is a tragedy for all involved," MTA Bus Company President Craig Cipriani said 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."

In another freak accident, TV director John Clabburn, who had worked on shows such as "Home And Away" and "Underbelly," died on April 6 at his home in Sydney.

Clabburn was home trimming garden hedges with a new chain saw when he cut his hand. Following which, he fell 10 feet from his ladder. He was soon found by his wife. His death was attributed to cardiac arrest from the blood loss, reported Deadline.

“When I went out to the back garden, he was crawling on the ground on his stomach. There was so much blood, he was clutching his torso. I kept getting towels to stem the flow, but the blood wouldn’t stop,” said Clabburn’s wife, Melissa.

“All he said was, ‘Call an ambulance now.' One minute we were admiring how straight the hedge was looking and what a great job he had done. He was so meticulous, he had a great eye for detail... the next, John was in an ambulance. He kept it together for me, but I know he would have been in incredible pain," she added.