An accident that closed the northbound lanes of the New Jersey Turnpike for several hours Friday killed three members of a family. It was the third fatal turnpike accident in East Windsor in eight days.
By: T.J. Furman
EAST WINDSOR Three people, all members of the same family, were killed in an accident between a car and tractor-trailer near Exit 8 of the New Jersey Turnpike Friday morning, a State Police official said.
Police did not identify the victims Friday afternoon, claiming they had yet to notify the next of kin. However, police did release the ages of the victims 28, 23 and an infant.
According to a State Police press release, the driver of a Toyota Camry, traveling north on the turnpike, cut off a tractor-trailer in the right-hand lane while in a construction zone at 7:50 a.m. Friday. The truck, driven by 37-year-old Jose Amaya of Union City, struck the vehicle and both collided with a concrete barrier.
A fire broke out that eventually incinerated both vehicles with the family of three still trapped inside their car, the press release said.
State Police said Mr. Amaya was not injured. There was no word on whether charges against Mr. Amaya are pending.
With the turnpike closed, Route 130 from Washington through Cranbury experienced bumper-to-bumper traffic conditions. Hightstown Detective Glen Moore said traffic volume increased in the borough as a result of the accident as well.
Friday’s incident is the third fatal accident on the turnpike in East Windsor in the past eight days. Frank Camacho, 22, of Newark died Sept. 12 after the tractor-trailer he was driving smashed into a bridge support column in the southbound lanes. Salvatore J. Coladonato IV, 23, of Upper Darby, Pa., drove his van into the back of a tractor-trailer that was stopped in a traffic back-up on the turnpike Wednesday morning and later died from his injuries.
For more on this story, see the Sept. 27, 2002 edition of the Windsor-Hights Herald.