Street Vendor Catches on Fire, Office Workers Come to Rescue

Sabrett
Pushcart vendors outside the Time/Life Building. Photo by AntyDiluvian

According to Lunch’er Jill a street vendor on 50th and 6th Ave. in front of the Time Life Building caught on fire just after 5 p.m.  yesterday (not the cart, but the actual vendor himself):

[It] happened at the exact time I was leaving work on 50th and 6th Ave.  right outside the Time Life building.  I didn’t see anything but a big crowd. As I was walking through the lobby some lady ran into our building and told a security guard something was on fire.  Once I got outside, I asked someone what was up and he said someone was on fire.

The NY Post reported this morning that nearby office workers came to the rescue…   

A team of good Samaritans extinguished a food cart owner who caught on fire in midtown yesterday, witnesses and fire officials said.  The man, identified by friends as Mohamed, suffered minor burns to his arms and face following the 5:15pm accident on W. 50th Street.    He was taken to New York -Presbyterian Hospital Weill Cornell, fire officials said.  “People took off their clothes to help him,” said Mohsen Ahmen, who sells hot dogs nearby.

The story was in the paper, but not online for some reason.  Not sure which vendor it was, but we wish him a speedy recovery.

10 Comments

  • this has nothing to do with someone, or something being on fire. I just wanted to take this moment to announce that I’m officially back. Internet just returned to my office, and I’ll be saved from another cafe metro lunch. Thank god.

  • Congrats Sarah, did you just get back online today?
    We’re having a H.Hour at Rudy’s bar tomorrow after work, please come!

    Oh, and thank god those people help that poor vendor. I hope he gets well soon.

  • why were people taking off their clothes?

  • @fedthefish

    Most likely to help put out the flames by smothering them.

  • I was there, it was crazy. EVERYONE was naked beating this dude off.

  • you just HAD to go there….

  • People on fire…nakedness.

    I thought the MTL happy hour pissup was tomorrow?

  • Boyd, you’re hilarious.

  • i was on a conference call from a building overlooking the accident when it happened. there was an explosion that engulfed the cart and then a guy ran down the street literally on fire like he was a stunt man in a movie. people got him extinguished somehow and the police and fire were there momentarily.

    it was pretty freaky! we thought it was that i was a grease-fire at one of the falafal carts.

  • Boyd if I was drinking tea, you’d have owed me one. You win 3 internets. Funniest thing since that poor sod who was told he looks like a pigeon.. (google it..)

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