Thirty residents lift five-tonne school bus off pregnant woman to save her baby son

A group of thirty residents in New York lifted a school bus off the body of a pregnant woman, enabling doctors to save her baby.

The bystanders got together to lift the five-tonne vehicle off Donnette Sanz, 33, who was crossing the road when she was struck by a van that pushed her in front of the bus.

Mrs Sanz, a police traffic warden, was pronounced dead shortly after her baby's birth by an emergency Caesarean section. The 3lb 6oz boy was in a critical condition.

One of the rescuers, Madalina Diaz said: 'It's amazing that all those people came out and helped. It's good to see people still care.'

Cheryl Brown, 47, said: 'I ran out of my house to join 10 people trying to lift up the bus.

'At first, we couldn't get it up, so then another 10 people ran over to help, and we got the bus up and the lady out.'

The van's driver, Walter Walker, was arrested on charges of criminally negligent homicide and driving without a license, police said. He pleaded not guilty to both charges and was being held on $100,000 bail.

'My brakes went out,' said Walker, 72. 'The light turned red, and I couldn't stop. ... I tried to miss her.'

Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said Walker had 20 suspensions to his driver's license.

Police also said that the brakes on Walker's van had deteriorated so badly that the vehicle was unsafe to drive. Walker told investigators he had some repairs done six months ago but knew there were still problems.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg met with Mrs Sanz's husband, Rafael, at a nearby hospital.
Sanz's sister, Beverly, said the baby was named Sean Michael.