NJ State Police ID man killed in I-295 crash; 13 others injured
The crash happened around 3:30 p.m. just south of I-195 in Hamilton Township.
HAMILTON TWP., New Jersey (WPVI) -- A man has died and more than a dozen others were injured after a passenger van flipped on I-295 in Mercer County, New Jersey Wednesday afternoon, according to the New Jersey State Police.
It happened around 3:30 p.m. when a van carrying 14 people overturned on the highway just south of I-195 in Hamilton Township.
Daniel Del Carmen Marmol Batista, 55, of Ridgewood, NY, died in the wreck. Thirteen others were also hurt, including two people who sustained serious injuries.
"It was horrific. The people screaming, the pain," recalled a man who didn't want to be identified.
The man says he was driving several cars back from the van when it flipped Wednesday afternoon. Knowing he happened to have a fire extinguisher in his car, he didn't think twice to help when the van started to catch fire.
"I tried to suppress the fire but there were victims in there, there were people stuck in the van," the man said.
Police say the right and center lanes of the highway were closed for about five hours.
Investigators are still working to determine what caused the crash.
