SI Advance

The driver of the other vehicle suffered minor head trauma in the two-car crash in Tompkinsville yesterday afternoon.

The crash occurred at the intersection of Hannah and Bay streets at 2:05 p.m., a Fire Department spokesman said.

A blue Honda Civic was traveling on Bay toward the St. George Ferry Terminal when a blue Mercury Grand Marquis going in the opposite direction attempted to make a left turn up Hannah toward Front Street, according to Frank McGowan, a mechanic at Continental Auto Care, located a block away at Hannah and Van Duzer .

Firefighters from Engine Co. 152, Rosebank, and Ladder Co. 77, Stapleton, had to cut open the Honda's front passenger-side door using a Hurst tool, the spokesman said.

Two young adults were removed, said McGowan, and taken to St. Vincent's Hospital, West Brighton.

The passenger door of the Mercury was dented and its driver -- 74-year-old Edward Sampel of Bulls Head -- appeared alert, but was bleeding from the head.

He was listed in stable condition in the emergency room at St. Vincent's, a hospital operator said.

Also taken out of the Mercury were a woman and a young child, said McGowan.

"There was a boom. You couldn't miss it," said McGowan, who was working at Continental Auto Care, located a block away, at Hannah and Van Duzer Street.

"They turned into each other," added Vincent Lall, an attendant at the Citgo gas station at the corner of Hannah and Bay streets.

The front end of the Honda was crumpled and its airbags deployed.

The intersection has been difficult to navigate because of an ongoing construction project, and its barricades, and left turns onto Hannah have been particularly precarious, McGowan said.

The force of the impact sent the cars into a U.S. Postal Service truck waiting at the light at Hannah, but the driver was uninjured and the truck escaped damage.

Police said no charges or summonses were issued.