Car runs over, kills woman who fell crossing West Boca road

An 89-year-old woman was killed Sunday, Jan. 6, after she fell while trying to cross a busy West Boca intersection, then was struck by a van, said the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office.

The victim, identified as Rosalind Pantell of Boca Raton, was attempting to cross Glades Road at U.S. 441 about 12:26 p.m. when she was struck by a 2000 Honda Odyssey minivan driven by Hossein Ghani Banki, 41, also of Boca, said a PBSO report.

She was taken to Delray Medical Center where she died a short time later, the report said.

According to the PBSO, Pantell was attempting to cross Glades Road, from south to north. Banki was driving westbound on Glades Road, in the right travel lane.  He stopped at a red traffic signal and then, after seeing the green turn arrow for westbound traffic to make a right turn, moved slowly onto US 441 when he felt something was wrong with his vehicle.

According to witnesses, the 89-year-old woman was in the crosswalk, but had fallen to the ground. PBSO said Banki could not see the woman as he was turning.

The accident is under investigation.