A Thanksgiving Day crash involving a police cruiser and a vehicle traveling the wrong way on a central New Jersey highway left two children dead and three people injured, according to the state Attorney General’s Office.
The accident occurred around 11:35 p.m. Thursday near the intersection of Routes 1 and 130 in North Brunswick. The decedents’ identities have not been released at press time.
According to the preliminary investigation, the fatal incident occurred on November 25, 2021 at 11:35 p.m. at the intersection of Route 1 and Route 130 in North Brunswick, N.J. Two vehicles were involved in a collision.
The first vehicle was operated by a civilian driving on the wrong side of the highway, and also contained two children. The second vehicle was a marked Old Bridge Police Department vehicle driven by an Old Bridge police officer, and which contained a second Old Bridge police officer and a civilian.
Both children in the civilian vehicle died from injuries sustained in the crash.
Both officers and the civilian riding in the police vehicle sustained injuries.
The car carrying the children was traveling on the wrong side of the road when it crashed into a marked Old Bridge police cruiser. the attorney general’s office said.
The children were pronounced dead a short time later, while two officers and a civilian in the police vehicle were injured.
Authorities have not said if the driver of the wrong-way vehicle was injured or released that person’s name. The names and further details about the children killed and the three injured people were also not disclosed.
The attorney general’s office is leading the investigation, as state law mandates that it do so any time an encounter with a police officer results in a death. The Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office will also have a role in the probe, authorities said.
It’s not yet clear why the wrong-way driver was traveling in the wrong lane, authorities said.