CBS2 Exclusive: Trucker In Deadly NJ Crash Tells His Story
UNION, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- Police have identified the victim in Saturday's fatal crash on Route 78 in Union, New Jersey.
State Police said 24-year-old James Pinaire, of Chatham, drove his car into the path of a fuel tanker while getting onto the highway at around 1 p.m., CBS2 reported.
Both vehicles then hit a tractor-trailer and both trucks caught fire.
Pinaire was killed. The driver of the fuel tanker climbed through the windshield of his burning truck to escape and is reportedly in critical condition.
Now, the driver of the tractor-trailer is speaking out about how he cheated death, and even serious injury, in an exclusive interview with CBS2's Scott Rapoport.
"I just think God gave me another chance to live," 53-year-old Mario Quiroz said.
With his daughter Jennifer by his side translating for him, the North Bergen resident said it's amazing he wasn't killed.
"I thought I was gonna die," he said.
Quiroz said he was trapped in his rig, surrounded by flames but managed to escape to safety by jumping out of his window.
"The window only opened half way and it was really hard to jump out the window," he said.
His daughter still can't believe he made it out alive.
"When I look at that video, I think oh my God. My dad had an angel over him who gave him another chance to live," Jennifer said.
Quiroz was taken to University Hospital In Newark following the crash, where he was tested for internal injuries. And despite everything he'd been through, remarkably doctors said he was OK, Rapoport reported.
The only remnant of physical injury? Eight staples in his head to close a small gash.
"He feels blessed," Jennifer said.
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