BATH BEACH, Brooklyn (PIX11) — A school bus driver was arrested after an 11-year-old girl was killed crossing the street in Brooklyn on Thursday, police said.
The girl, Amira Aminova, was struck by the bus while crossing Bath Avenue near 23rd Avenue just after 3 p.m., according to the NYPD. Aminova was rushed to the hospital with severe head and bodily trauma but could not be saved, police said.
The victim was in the crosswalk and close to her home on 23rd Avenue when she was killed. Surveillance video showed the girl sprinting in the crosswalk, trying to avoid the school bus as it was making a right turn onto Bath Avenue.
“She just took off. It was like if you see a train coming and you try to run to beat the train, it was just like that,” Bath Beach resident Lou Iljaz told PIX11 News.
A nearby deli worker told PIX11 News Aminova was in the store buying chocolate and soda before the fatal crash.
“She came every day. She was a good customer, quiet,” the deli worker said.
The school bus driver, Wawa Aurelus, 62, left the scene after the accident and was later arrested in Brooklyn and charged with failure to yield to a pedestrian or cyclist and failure to exercise due care, according to the NYPD.
Aurelus has not been charged with a crime since the incident appears to be an accident, authorities said.
Mira Wassef is a digital reporter who has covered news and sports in the NYC area for more than a decade. She joined PIX11 News in 2022. See more of her work here.
Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11.