An 11-year-old girl died on Thursday after being struck by a school bus as she crossed a street in Brooklyn, according to the Police Department.<\/p>\n
The driver, whom the police identified as Wawa Aurelus, 62, was accused of leaving the scene after the collision. He faces misdemeanor charges, including failure to yield to a pedestrian and failure to exercise due care.<\/p>\n
The episode happened at about 3 p.m. on Thursday, when many students are traveling home after school dismissal.<\/p>\n
The girl, Amira Aminova, had been waiting at the edge of a typically busy intersection in the Bath Beach neighborhood, according to surveillance video. As the pedestrian signal turned from a walk sign to a flashing red hand with a countdown timer, she started running across the crosswalk.<\/p>\n
The bus driver appeared to have a green light, and he began to make a right turn. By then, the girl was halfway through the intersection.<\/p>\n
She attempted to continue running around the bus as the driver failed to yield, but was struck. She was less than 200 feet away from her home, according to the police.<\/p>\n
The police said she suffered severe injuries to her head and body. She was taken to Maimonides Medical Center in the in Borough Park neighborhood of Brooklyn, where she was pronounced dead.<\/p>\n
Mr. Aurelus was issued a desk appearance ticket, and he is expected to appear in court on Feb. 24. It was not immediately clear whether he had legal representation.<\/p>\n
Arturo Craveoto, a bodega worker in the neighborhood, said that the 11-year-old had just exited the store where he works before she was struck. He rushed outside after witnessing the collision. The bus had already left the scene. Mr. Craveoto said that a nurse who was walking by performed CPR on the girl before an ambulance arrived.<\/p>\n
The girl had been a frequent patron of the bodega.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe came here every day,\u201d Mr. Craveoto said. \u201cLike a home.\u201d<\/p>\n
By Friday, neighbors had erected a memorial and placed flowers at the intersection where the girl was killed.<\/p>\n
It was not clear where she attended school. Nicole Brownstein, a spokeswoman for the city\u2019s Education Department, said that the school system \u201ctakes the safety of all students extremely seriously and expects every bus driver to follow proper safety and reporting protocols.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOur hearts go out to the family and community that lost a child today,\u201d Ms. Brownstein said in a statement. \u201cWe are ensuring the school community is supported as they mourn the loss of their classmate.\u201d<\/p>\n
The collision recalled other episodes in recent years in which children were killed after being struck by school buses. Four years ago, a 15-year-old girl<\/a> in the Midwood neighborhood in Brooklyn died after she was hit. The bus driver, who fled the scene, told the police at the time that he did not know he had struck her.<\/p>\n