Two Critically Injured in NJ Turnpike Crash

Three people were hospitalized Saturday after an early morning crash on the New Jersey Turnpike, including a teenage girl who was thrown from a car and a motorist trapped in the wreck, authorities said.

The injured were in a Nissan Altima traveling on the highway’s northbound express lanes through Leonia around 12:30 a.m., according to state police in Newark. When the Nissan slowed for traffic, a tractor-trailer smashed into the back of the sedan, pinned it against the concrete divider and dragged it before slamming into a Lincoln Navigator.

State Police Staff Sgt. Michael Rohrman said the teenager was ejected from the back seat of the Nissan before it became crushed between the truck and divider. An adult female driver and adult male passenger were trapped inside.

Firefighters from Englewood, Fort Lee, Leonia and Ridgefield worked for more than two hours to rescue victims from the crash, Rohrman said.

The Teaneck Volunteer Ambulance Corps was the first ambulance crew at the scene and began caring for the injured,  said TVAC spokesman Larry Robertson. TVAC crews also worked to keep firefighters safe from heat stress as they worked through the hours-long painstaking rescue. 

The Teaneck Fire Department volunteer Box 54 support unit was also called in. 

Police said the Nissan’s driver was listed in stable condition at New York Presbyterian Hospital, while the teenager was critical and the male passenger was critical, but stable, at Hackensack University Medical Center.

The cause of the accident remained under investigation and state police were still working to notify family members. 

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