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A man from West End, N.C., was killed and a Charlotte woman was trapped in an SUV for more than an hour Friday after a city sanitation truck overturned onto their SUV at Billy Graham Parkway and West Boulevard.
City of Charlotte officials say the driver - a temporary worker provided by Metro Staffing - lost control of the truck around 1:50 p.m. while turning right from Billy Graham onto West. Charlotte-Mecklenburg police identified the driver as Malaki Yaaqob Ysrayl, 43, of Concord.
City spokeswoman Brandi Williams said the driver was licensed and qualified to drive the truck, which was making yard-waste pickups. This was his first accident in the month he has been driving a city truck, she said.
When the truck made a right turn, it flipped onto a 2008 Toyota Highlander, which was in the left-turn lane on West Boulevard. The truck smashed the driver's side of the SUV.
Robert William Stark, 70, the driver of the Highlander, died at the scene.
Florence Dubois, 35, of Charlotte was in the Highlander and was seriously injured, according to CMPD. Francis Stark, 69, of West End and Erik Stark, 34, of Rochester, N.Y., were also in the car and had minor injuries.
They were all transported to Carolinas Medical Center.
Two of the Highlander passengers were rescued "in a matter of minutes," said Capt. Rob Brisley of the Charlotte Fire Department. Four dozen firefighters worked for 80 minutes to free Dubois, Brisley said.
Two laborers, who are city employees, were also on board the yard-waste truck in addition to the driver. Lamont Antoine Gray, 33, and Franklin Omar Marte, 22, weren't injured. The driver was transported to Carolinas Medical Center with minor injuries.
City sanitation workers had gone back to work Friday after the Thanksgiving holiday. Williams said the city is investigating the wreck and expects to release more information on Monday.
Metro Staffing could not be reached late Friday.
The wreck created massive traffic jams on West Boulevard and Billy Graham Parkway for most of the afternoon.
Staff writer Steve Lyttle contributed.
