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A teenager headed to a Sweet 16 party was killed after he stuck his head out of the emergency hatch of a double-decker bus and hit the underside of a highway overpass, authorities said.
The gruesome accident followed the warnings of a security guard on the bus who said he told the teens repeatedly not to open the hatch.
Daniel Fernandez, 16, was among 65 teens aboard the bus Friday night from New York City on its way to the party in Garfield, New Jersey, said Steve Coleman, spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
The teens were dancing and the bus had gotten hot, the security guard, Alex Franco, told the Daily News. Still, he said, he had asked the teens to leave the emergency hatch alone.
``I told them not to open the hatch, like three or four times, but kids, they don't understand,'' he said.
Fernandez's English teacher at St. Francis Preparatory School in Queens echoed that sentiment.
``Sometimes kids don't recognize their own mortality,'' said Jane Lynch, her voice trembling.
Franco said he had gone downstairs to tell the driver that it was getting too hot.
``Two, five minutes I was downstairs,'' he said.
But then he heard teenagers screaming, and he saw Fernandez on the floor of the bus. ``There was so much blood everywhere,'' he told The New York Post.
Fernandez, who lived in the New York City borough of Queens, was pronounced dead at a hospital.
He was a beloved student, said Lynch, who taught him last school year.
``He was an adorable, low-key kid, with a sweet smile,'' she said. ``Kids loved him; he had lots of friends and was popular with the girls.''
The school said on its website that it shared in grief and shock over his death. A wake was set for Monday, the site said.
Designer Limousines, which operates the bus, expressed its ``deepest heartfelt sympathy'' to the teen's family. The company said it would conduct an internal investigation.
Calls to the Fernandez family home in Queens rang unanswered.
<관련 한글 기사>
10대男, 버스 창문에 머리 내밀어 사망
미국에서 버스를 타고 가던 10대 소년이 지붕 밖으로 머리를 내밀었다 고가도로에 충돌해 숨지는 사고가 발생했다.
대니얼 페르난데스(16)는 지난달 31일(현지시간) 오후 6시30분께 친구 65명과 함께 친구의 생일파티에 참석하기 위해 2층 리무진 버스를 타고 뉴욕시에서 뉴저지 주로 건너가던 중 사고를 당했다고 경찰 당국은 밝혔다.
페르난데스는 버스 지붕 해치를 통해 머리를 내밀었다 뉴저지 포트리 인근에서 도로 위로 교차하는 고가도로에 머리를 부딪혔으며, 곧바로 인근 병원으로 후송됐으나 숨졌다.
사고 당시 버스에 타고 있던 10대들은 파티 분위기에 휩싸여 춤을 추고 있었으며 버스 안이 더워서 지붕 해치를 연 것으로 알려졌다.
버스에 동승한 경비원 앨릭스 프랑코는 "모두가 춤을 추고 있었다"며 "실내가 매우 더워 아이들이 몸을 식히려고 지붕 해치를 열었다. 열지 말라고 서너 차례 말했으나 아이들이 말을 듣지 않았다"고 밝혔다.
프랑코는 차 안이 너무 덥다고 운전사에게 말하려 1층으로 내려간 뒤 "소년 2명 이 '오 마이 갓, 오 마이 갓'이라고 비명 지르는 것을 들었다"고 말했다.
해당 버스업체는 유족에 심심한 애도의 뜻을 전하고 자체 조사를 벌이겠다고 밝혔다.
