Images: Rockland Daily
According to a statement released by Palisades Police, at approximately 1:27 AM, the Palisades Interstate Parkway Police received a call regarding a motor vehicle accident observed in the center median from the southbound lanes in Englewood Cliffs.
Officials said the vehicle was listed as a Ford Econoline E350 passenger cargo van bearing New York registration KNP-2961.
Parkway Police units were dispatched and discovered a single-vehicle accident rollover in the center median of the southbound lanes with multiple passengers.
Rescue and first aid operations began immediately. Several passengers were trapped within the vehicle and needed to be extricated.
According to Palisades Park Police, the shuttle van was occupied by 12 passengers in all, (4) four passengers suffered severe trauma and were pronounced dead at the scene, (8) eight were taken to area hospitals due to various injuries ranging from severe head trauma to minor physical complaints.
Emergency services are at the scene of a multi-vehicle accident on the Palisades Interstate Parkway near Exit 1. Injured passengers were extracted from at least one vehicle. pic.twitter.com/Ziioh6R28x
— Rockland Daily (@Rockland_Daily) September 2, 2022
No victim-identifying information is being released at this time.
The cause of the accident is under investigation through the combined efforts of the Palisades Interstate Parkway Police, the Bergen County Sherriff’s BCI and the Bergen County Prosecutors Office Fatal Accident Unit.
Officials confirmed that the shuttle van served as a transportation service for workers in factories in upstate New York to and from their residents.
Southbound lanes of the Palisades Interstate Parkway are currently closed at exit 2 and all traffic is being diverted to 9W south.
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