Police: Collision Sends SUV Off Overpass In Rockland County, 2 Teens Killed
PEARL RIVER, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- A fiery crash in Rockland County on Sunday afternoon claimed the lives of two teenagers.
Police said two cars collided on the Route 304 overpass in the hamlet of Pearl River. One then plunged off the overpass about 50 feet to the train tracks below, CBS2's Nick Caloway reported.
The car landed upside down on its roof. Neighbors said their quiet Sunday was quickly turned upside down.
"Well, I was washing the car, and all of a sudden I heard this big bang," neighbor Joe Geppner said.
Police said the collision sent a Porsche SUV over the guardrail.
Two teenagers, a 15-year-old girl named Saniha Cekic of Brooklyn, and a 17-year-old boy named Altin Nezaj of Pearl River, were killed, police said.
The driver, 17-year-old Aisha Radoncic of Orangeburg, survived the crash. She was taken to Westchester Medical Center with what police called serious injuries.
The driver of the other car, which did not go over the rail, was not injured.
Geppner lives a few hundred yards from Route 304 and was one of the first people on the scene.
"We started trying to get fire extinguishers and we started trying to put out the fire because all we heard was this poor girl screaming, and she was screaming terribly," Geppner said.
Geppner and several other Good Samaritans did what they could to knock down the flames until firefighters arrived.
"Thank God the fire department came and they started dousing it with water and whatever else they could," Geppner said. "And to tell you the truth, it took a long time. I kept seeing the flames. No matter what they did they just kept coming up."
Route 304 is closed indefinitely as investigators continue to go over the scene, police said.
NJ TRANSIT said the Pascack Valley Line rail service is suspended in both directions between Woodcliff Lake and Nanuet because of the crash, adding the Monday morning commute could be impacted.