Multi-Vehicle Accident Sends Child to Hospital

An 11-year-old boy from Salem was taken to the hospital with a serious head injury Thursday, the lone victim requiring emergency transportation after a multi-vehicle accident closed down all four northbound lanes of I-295.

West Deptford fire and emergency rescue services had to rescue the boy, who was unconscious and trapped in the rear of a Chevrolet Impala. Gloucester County EMS transported him to Cooper Hospital.

According to New Jersey State Police Sgt. Brian Polite, the boy's injury was deemed non-life-threatening. 

The accident in which he was injured took place near mile marker 24.4 in West Deptford at 4:19 p.m. on March 28, Polite said.

The Impala was struck in the rear by a 2005 Honda Odyssey, and was pushed into the driver’s side of a 2001 Volkswagen and the rear of a 2011 Audi. The Audi was in turn pushed into the rear of a 2004 Ford.

No one else was transported from the scene, and the case is still under investigation.

About 30 minutes earlier, tractor-trailer overturned along the northbound side of the highway by the Bellmawr exit. Its trailer attachment exceeded the legal height for the overpass.

Miraculously, the driver of the truck escaped "without a scratch on him," Polite said. Neither was there any structural damage to the overpass due to the impact. Traffic was diverted for about an hour while the roadway was cleared.