FDNY, NYPD: Motorcyclist Died In Accident, Not When We Dropped Car On Him

FDNY and NYPD first responders deny that a mishap during a rescue effort Thursday killed the young man they were trying to save.

Karam Rampersaud, 21, was riding his Kawaskaki Ninja motorcycle to a class at City College Thursday morning when he realized he'd forgotten something at home and went back to retrieve it, his brother Ramon told The New York Post.

When he set out again for class, at about 8:45 a.m., he crashed his bike into a Ford Taurus, which turned in front of him on Loring Ave. at Forbell St. in East New York, Brooklyn.

“Whatever he forgot cost him his life,” his brother Ramon said tearfully.

Rampersaud was wedged under the car and dragged almost 30 feet before the 70-year-old driver stopped, witnesses told The New York Daily News.

Two cell phone videos (see below) obtained by The Post show first responders lifting the car up on a hydraulic jack in order to reach Rampersaud. When the car is elevated four feet off the ground, it slips and falls.

Witness James Selder, 41, said, “Then the car just dropped right back down. Right on him. Everybody in the crowd screamed.”

It's unclear in the videos, however, if the car crushes Rampersaud.

The 21 year-old, who was studying to be a math teacher, was rushed to Brookdale Hospital, where he died.

Fire and police sources confirmed that the car fell but said it did not land on Rampersaud. Police say they placed wooden chocks placed under the car frame as it was lifted - a technique known as "cradling" - which protected Rampersaud from the impact.

But even if the first responders were to blame, Rampersaud's grandfather, Anirude Singh, is ready to forgive.

"I'm not going against them," he said of the firefighters to The News. "They save a lot of lives. But one mistake. Lifting a car off a man is not like lifting a cardboard box - a car is heavy."

Warning: graphic video below: