2 die in North Bellmore car, garbage truck crash

Only one of the three people in a car broadsided by a garbage truck at a North Bellmore intersection survived Tuesday, according to Nassau County police.

All three victims were in the car, a 2002 Hyundai Accent going east, when it was struck by the garbage truck, a 1998 Mack going north, on the passenger side about 11:10 a.m. at Newbridge Road and Camp Avenue, which is Beltagh Avenue east of the crash scene, police said.

Police said a witness told them the truck had the green light. After striking the car, it left the vehicle behind and traveled more than two blocks north before stopping.

The car's male driver was pronounced dead at a hospital, and his front-seat female passenger was declared dead at the scene. The 31-year-old female passenger in the car's backseat was hospitalized in critical condition, police said.

The garbage truck driver, born in 1966, was not hurt and is cooperating with police, said Det. Lt. John Azzata, head of the Nassau Homicide Squad.

No one was charged and the names of the people involved were not released.

"We don't have any indication, as of right now, that there's any criminality involved in this," Azzata said. "Unfortunately, we do have two deaths."

Tuesday, the wrecked Hyundai rested askew in the road, with the garbage truck about 1,000 feet north with minor front-end damage. The vehicles will be examined for mechanical failures, if any.

A stretch of Newbridge Road near the crash scene was closed for hours during the police investigation, but was reopened late Tuesday afternoon.

The garbage truck has a mechanism on its front to hoist and empty trash receptacles into a rear loader. The truck belongs to Jamaica Ash Rubbish & Removal Co. of Westbury. A woman who answered the telephone at its office said no one was available to comment.

With Gary Dymski