By Christina Santucci
A worker unloading a truck in Woodside Monday morning was killed in an accident involving a school bus carrying special-needs children, according to police, witnesses, fellow employees and the man’s boss.
Police said 52-year-old Thackoor Hargobin was struck and killed by a yellow school bus at about 8:30 a.m. on Borough Place near 50th Street.
Witnesses said Hargobin, who was employed by the Astoria-based Hephaistos Building Supplies, had been making a delivery to Super-Tex Products when he was hit by the bus.
Three school buses were initially stopped on the street, but after police questioned several people, two of the buses left the scene. A third school bus from Brooklyn Transportation Corp., which had been transporting several special-needs students, remained on the street during the accident investigation. According to the NYPD, no criminality was suspected in the accident.
Michael Karantinidis, the owner of Hephaistos Building, said he hired Hargobin, whose nickname was “Tony,” in 1995, about a year after the company was founded.
Karantinidis described his employee as a native of Trinidad and a grandfather.
“He was an experienced driver in his country,” Karantinidis said.
Co-worker Edgar Romero, 46, was called and asked to go to the scene of the crash.
“We thought the ambulance was picking him up,” Romero said, explaining that instead he and another employee saw Hargobin’s body covered by a white sheet in the middle of the street.
Karantinidis said he had not yet spoken to Hargobin’s family.
“I don’t know if they have found out yet,” he said.
Reach photo editorChristina Santucci by e-mail at csantucci@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4589.
