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May 9, 2009 7:32 pm US/Eastern
West End Garbage Truck Accident Leaves 1 Dead
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) ―
A fatal accident Friday night left a man pinned inside a garbage truck after it flipped over in the city's West End.
The accident happened around 8:30 p.m. at the bottom of Greentree Road near Woodville Street.
Pittsburgh police say the man killed was a passenger in that garbage truck. The driver of the garbage truck told police he lost his brakes coming down the hill.
"It went to make the bend and flipped over about four times," said Eric Lippert, who witnessed the accident. "It just kept rolling right through the guardrail and came to rest."
The victim has been identified as 33-year-old Jeffery Zapf, of West Mifflin. Authorities say Zapf became pinned in the cab and was later pronounced dead at the hospital. The driver was not injured.
People who live in the area say they heard a loud crash. Neighbor Jesse Rak says the truck was on its side when it tore through the guardrail and slammed into a white car parked in the lot.
"It was on its side, already. It came up and it just destroyed everything, said Rak. "It was a heavy load."
Officials say a car that was in front of the garbage truck managed to get out of the way before the crash.
Meanwhile, authorities say they believe that the truck is owned by a company in Fayette County. It was carrying a full load of garbage and was headed for a landfill at the time of the accident.
"It just happened so quick," said Lippert. "We were sitting out here on the bench. We just looked up the street and we seen it coming around and it flipped. The first time you could hear a loud bang, it rolled through the guard rail, into the lot."
Neighbors and police say they believe that if the guardrail wasn't there, the truck would have crashed into the building.
On Monday, accident investigators say they plan to give the truck a thorough inspection to determine if mechanical failure was responsible.
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