2 dead in tractor-trailer, box truck crash on Route 80

🚨 An eastbound SUV in the local lanes jumped the curb into the express lanes

🚨A tractor-trailer in the express lanes was struck, sending it onto the westbound side

🚨 An eastbound box truck was hit by the tractor trailer causing it to catch fire

HACKENSACK — The driver and passenger in a box truck on Route 80 died after a tractor-trailer crossed through a concrete barrier and hit it, causing it to catch fire, New Jersey State Police said.

State Police Sgt. Jeffrey Lebron said two vehicles were traveling eastbound just before midnight Tuesday near Exit 66 when a Toyota SUV jumped the curbed median into the express lanes and hit a Volvo tractor-trailer.

State Police said the impact sent a tractor-trailer through the concrete barrier, into the westbound express lanes and into the path of a box truck which caught fire. A GMC SUV also in the westbound express lanes collided with the tractor-trailer.

Pictures from the crash scene posted by the Daily Voice show the box truck on fire in the middle of a debris field scattered across the westbound lanes. The impact of the tractor-trailer took out a large chunk of the median.

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2 dead, two hospitalized

The identities of the people in the box truck have not been confirmed, according to Lebron.  The driver of the tractor-trailer, a 63-year-old man from Temple, Texas and his 60-year-old passenger from Killeen, Texas, were taken to hospitals with serious injuries. The driver and passenger of the GMC sustained minor injuries, Lebron said.

Both the local and express lanes were closed for most of the overnight hours during the initial investigation and cleanup.

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