By Barbara Boyer and Kathy Boccella
Philadelphia Inquirer
Copyright 2007 Philly Online, LLC
PORT RICHMOND, Penn. — Patricia Gallagher, 26, of Philadelphia, was killed by an ambulance at Castor and Aramingo Avenues in Port Richmond yesterday, police said. The accident happened about 4:25 p.m. as she ran to catch a bus after leaving her job at a nearby KFC, police said.
Gallagher and a relative were crossing three lanes of traffic — away from the crosswalk — when she was struck by the side of the ambulance, which had its lights and siren on, according to police. “It’s a tragic loss of life here,” Fire Commissioner Lloyd Ayers said. “This is just so horrible for so many families. Our hearts go out to them.”
Medic 31 had finished a call and was responding to another call at the station house, at Van Kirk and Jackson Streets, when the rescue workers called in the accident, Ayers said. The ambulance stopped after hitting Gallagher, he said. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
The nature of the latest call and the names of the rescue workers were not released. The Accident Investigation District responded to the accident, police said.