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4 weeks ago
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An elderly woman was killed in Brooklyn on Sunday morning when she was struck in the head by a solar panel that had detached from atop a nearby parking lot, according to police, making her the only known casualty of this weekend's nor'easter.
NYPD officials said Lyudmila Braun, 76, was on Ocean Parkway and West Brighton Avenue in Coney Island — just under the elevated Q train line — around 10:30 a.m. on Sunday when she was hit and knocked unconscious. First responders found her unresponsive at the scene and took her to NYU Langone Hospital Brooklyn, where she later died.
According to the Department of Buildings, the 41-inch by 87-inch solar panel became disconnected from a steel carport structure above an outdoor parking lot. The wind blew it about 20 feet away into an adjacent walking path, where it struck Braun. According to the city’s Office of Emergency Management, gusts in Brooklyn peaked at around 42 miles per hour during the storm.
DOB staff closed the nearby entrance to the Ocean Parkway Q train subway station due to concerns about high winds, officials said, and also issued a partial vacate order for the parking lot area below the solar panel installation. The department was still investigating the incident on Monday.
Alexey Braun, one of Braun’s two sons, told Gothamist she was a “wonderful person” who was out grocery shopping when she was killed. Police said she lived about three blocks from where she was fatally struck.
This is a developing story and may be updated.
