Firefighters work the scene where a private estate straddles both sides of A1A at the south end of town. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star
A truck driver died Dec. 18 after his vehicle veered off State Road A1A at the south end of Manalapan, the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office reported. The box truck hit multiple trees, a power utility box and a gas line before catching fire with the driver trapped inside. The impact ejected a passenger through the windshield and onto the road, with the passenger sustaining unknown injuries, deputies said.
The Sheriff’s Office identified the driver as Felix Ramos Jr., 54, of Margate, and the passenger as Jesus Lazaro Safront Rodriguez, 52, of Hialeah. Ramos died at the scene. Rodriguez was taken to St. Mary’s Hospital by Palm Beach Fire Rescue.
Deputies said Ramos was traveling north in the 3000 block of South Ocean Boulevard at about 10:30 a.m. For unknown reasons, he veered over the southbound lane and continued onto the landscaped shoulder on the road’s west side.
Because of a gas leak and electrical short related to the accident, haz-mat crews from Delray Beach, West Palm Beach and Boca Raton also responded to the scene.
Comments