Four people died and eight were injured, some of them seriously, when the van they were traveling in overturned this morning in the central median of the Palisades Interstate Parkway in New Jersey.
The highway police who responded to a call about a southbound accident at Englewood Cliffs found a wrecked Ford cargo van with upside-down New York plates on its left side in a wooded area near the stretch around 1: 30 am today.
No details were immediately available about the identities of the victims or a possible cause of the single-vehicle crash. But the van served as a shuttle for factory workers in upstate New York to and from their residences in NJ.
Several people were trapped inside the overturned car, detailed NBC News. Emergency teams had to remove them from the Wrecked vehicle with broken roof and windows. It was unclear how much damage occurred as a result of the crash and how much may have been part of the rescue effort.
Police said that the four people who died at the scene suffered severe trauma. Eight victims were taken to hospitals, some with severe head trauma and others with minor injuries, authorities said. A multi-agency investigation into the cause of the crash is ongoing.
Palisades Parkway was closed for hours in the area. For real-time road updates see here.