Police: Danville man dies in ‘tragic’ family accident in Pennsylvania

A Danville man died after being accidentally hit by a car driven by his brother at a park in eastern Pennsylvania last weekend, according to police.

The victim was identified as Mamdouh Gabra, 73, according to Sgt. Henry O’Neill of the Prospect Park (Penn.) Police Department.

“A horrific, tragic accident,” O’Neill told DanvilleSanRamon.com.

The situation unfolded just after 1 p.m. on Sunday (June 28) at Moore’s Lake Park in the city of Prospect Park, a community about 20 minutes southwest of Philadelphia. Gabra had flown out to Pennsylvania to help his older brother prepare to move to Arizona, according to O’Neill.

On that afternoon, Gabra’s 83-year-old brother — whose name was not released — was behind the wheel with family in the car but he had mistakenly taken the car off the roadway and onto a pedestrian path also used by maintenance vehicles, O’Neill said.

The brother stayed in the vehicle while the other occupants — Gabra, the driver’s daughter and the driver’s granddaughter — got out to help the driver navigate turning around behind a nearby storage pavilion and drive back onto the roadway, according to O’Neill.

“Unfortunately, in the course of that is when he struck and killed his own brother,” the sergeant said.

The investigation indicated multiple contributing factors in the fatal collision, including the driver’s age, he may have hit the gas pedal thinking it was the brake and he became flustered after clipping the pavilion wall, according to O’Neill. Gabra tried to get out of the way but could not avoid the oncoming car.

O’Neill said local police and prosecutors are not pursuing charges after finding no criminal intent. “It was strictly an accident, purely an accident,” he added.

The older brother was treated for complaints of chest pains and later released from the hospital, according to O’Neill.

Gabra’s family made the solemn trip back to Pennsylvania to gather his belongings and make arrangements Tuesday to transport his body back home to California, the sergeant said.

The news was first reported by the Delco Times.