A 3-year-old girl struck by a car in the South Bronx on Monday warned her mom the vehicle was coming a split-second before being tragically killed.
Mariam Dansoko, dressed in a navy blue school uniform, lagged slightly behind her mother, who was pushing a stroller holding another child as they walked across 164th St. in the crosswalk, police and witnesses said.
“Before the car hits her, she said, ‘Mommy, the car is coming.’ She was right here on my back,” recalled Mariam’s mother, Rougui Kebe, who horrifically witnessed her younger brother being killed by a minivan in 2012.
By the time Kebe, 30, turned around, the Nissan had already slammed into Mariam.
The little girl had released her mother’s hand just after 8 a.m., moments before the black 2014 Nissan Altima turned left onto 164th St. from Gerard Ave. and struck her, a witness said.
Will Velez, a super at a nearby building, said Kebe became hysterical when she realized what had happened.
“She was yelling, ‘Oh, my God! My baby! My baby!’ ” said Velez, 56.
“(Mariam) was breathing hard, gasping for air, in pain,” Velez added.
Emergency responders rushed Mariam to Lincoln Medical Center, but she didn’t make it there alive, Kebe said.
The mother and the child in the stroller were not injured.
It was a tragic case of déja vu for the family and left them thinking they are cursed.
In June 2012, Kebe was watching her 4-year-old brother, Ebrahim, play when he darted into traffic in Mount Hope, less than 2 miles from Monday’s accident, and was hit by the Chrysler minivan.
Kebe was 39 weeks pregnant with Mariam — and unable to stop Ebrahim before he was struck.
“We haven’t talked about that day. It’s too much for her,” said Kebe’s brother, Mohamed Kebe.
“It’s like a curse or something. . . . I don’t know why this is happening again,” he said. “It’s crazy. I can’t believe it.”
Mariam’s family described her as a precocious and affable girl who loved “Dora the Explorer.”
“She’s an angel,” her mother said.
“She loves school. At school, she knew everybody’s name. She liked everybody. She’s so friendly.”
Kebe said all she can do is try to cope with the loss.
“I’m going to miss her. I cannot do anything. I cannot bring her back. I’m just trying to be strong.”
Mariam’s uncle said he was equally devastated.
“I love her so much,” added Mohamed Kebe, 28. “She’s my favorite niece.”
He said the 21-year-old driver initially swerved to miss his sister.
“The driver saw the mother. He tried to avoid her, but he didn’t see the little girl behind her,” he said.
The driver remained at the scene and witnesses described him as appearing distraught.
The NYPD’s highway collision investigation squad was called to the scene. No charges were filed against the driver.
rsit@nydailynews.com
