Woman killed after car crushed by tree branch in Burlington County identified
The woman killed was a passenger in the car. The driver is hospitalized with serious injuries.
HAINESPORT, New Jersey (WPVI) -- Police have identified the woman who was killed after the car she was riding in was crushed by a large tree branch in Burlington County, New Jersey.
That victim is 71-year-old Christine Roemer, of Indian Mills.
The driver of the car, the victim's husband, 71-year-old Albert Roemer Jr., was seriously injured and is now in the hospital.
It happened around 6:55 a.m. on the 1800 block of Ark Road in Hainesport.
Chopper 6 over the scene showed the vehicle severely damaged.
Jason Del Palazzo, who lives across the street, said he saw the aftermath.
"It literally landed right on top of the car. Right where the people were, right across at a little bit of an angle," he said.
He said he's never seen anything like it, but like many people in the area, he has noticed the tree before.
"I drive this road every day and I said to myself, 'That's dangerous-looking because it was a big branch, probably 18 inches in diameter, going straight across the road,'" Del Palazzo said.
A nurse who stopped to help the couple said the driver was in shock.
"He was stuck in the car, so we really couldn't move him. I climbed around the car and looked in the passenger side and saw that there wasn't much I could do. The windshield has been completely shattered," the nurse said.
They also said PSE&G regularly trims some of these trees on the road, and that they were in the area recently.
The road was blocked to traffic as police investigated on Tuesday morning. It has since reopened.
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