Fatal Accident on I-195 in Hamilton
One person killed in three-car crash on I-195 in Hamilton Township
Published in the Trenton Times, http://www.nj.com Story and photos by: Michael Ratcliffe
HAMILTON TOWNSHIP, N.J. -- One person was killed and four other people were hurt during a three-vehicle collision on Interstate 195 on Saturday, July 23, 2005. State police said the accident at milepost 2.3 occurred just before 5:50 p.m. after an eastbound Honda Accord crossed the grass median and entered the westbound side of the interstate. State police said the Honda was being driving in the left eastbound lane when the driver, a 25-year-old woman, lost control of her vehicle. The Honda left the eastbound side of the interstate, crossed the grass median, and entered the westbound side, where it was struck on its passenger's side by a Ford Tempo being driven in the left westbound lane by a 22-year-old woman, state police said. That impact caused the Honda to flip over and come to rest on its roof. The Ford, meanwhile, was hit from behind by a Toyota Camry behind driven in the left westbound lane by another 22-year-old woman, state police said. All three vehicle's sustained extensive damage. Several township fire companies and ambulances from Hamilton, Washington Township and Trenton all rushed to the scene. The Honda's passenger (the driver's 30-year-old husband) was pronounced dead at the scene, state police said. The Honda's driver was transported to Capital Health System at Fuld hospital in Trenton and admitted in critical condition, state police said. State police said the Ford's driver and her passenger, another 22-year-old woman, suffered serious injuries and were also taken to Fuld hospital. The Toyota's driver suffered minor injuries, but was also transported to Fuld hospital for treatment, state police said. The accident forced police to shut all westbound lanes of the interstate for over three hours.
Multiple-car I-195 crash kills 1, injures 4
By MICHAEL RATCLIFFE
HAMILTON – One person was killed and four others were injured in a three-car collision that forced state police to close all westbound lanes of Interstate 195 here for more than three hours yesterday evening. State police said the accident at milepost 2.3 occurred just before 5:50 p.m. after an eastbound car crossed the grass median and entered the westbound side of the interstate. State police were still working last night to identify the person killed, who was a passenger in the car that crossed the median.The driver of that car was critically hurt and also remained unidentified last night. State police said that car was in the left eastbound lane when the driver ``lost control of her vehicle.'' The car left the eastbound side of the interstate, crossed the grass median, and entered the westbound side, where it was struck on its passenger side by a car being driven in the left westbound lane by Katie O'Conner, 22, of Manalapan, state police said. That impact caused the first car to flip over and come to rest on its roof, state police said. Meanwhile O'Conner's car was hit from behind by a car being driven in the left westbound lane by Kristen Semko, 22, also of Manalapan, state police said. All three vehicle's sustained extensive damage. Township firefighters and ambulances from Hamilton, Washington Township and Trenton all rushed to the scene. The passenger in the car that crossed the median was pronounced dead at the scene, state police said. The driver of that car was transported to Capital Health System at Fuld hospital in Trenton and admitted in critical condition, state police said. State police said O'Conner and her passenger, Natasha Zimora, 22, of Fairfax, Va., suffered serious injuries and were also taken to Fuld hospital, as was Semko, whose injuries were described as minor. State police ask witnesses to the accident to call Trooper John Cipot at (609) 584-5000, extension 5297. Not only were all westbound lanes of I-195 shut down and all westbound traffic detoured, but traffic on the eastbound side of the highway backed up for miles. One eastbound lane was temporarily closed during the police investigation. State police said the westbound lanes were reopened to traffic about 9:10 p.m. The deadly crash was one of three accidents to occur in a short period of time on interstate roadways in Hamilton yesterday. During the traffic backup caused by three-vehicle fatal collision, two cars on the eastbound side of I-195 collided and caused at least one minor injury. And before the deadly wreck, a car veered off Interstate 295 near exit 60 and flipped on its roof about 5 p.m. The driver declined medical treatment.
Pa. man identified as I-95 crash victim
HAMILTON – A 30-year-old Pennsylvania man was identified yesterday as the passenger killed in a three-vehicle crash on Interstate 195 Saturday evening. Jautam Saroop, of Newtown Township, Pa., was killed when his wife, Lalitha Seetharaman, 25, apparently lost control of their car while traveling east shortly before 6 p.m. State police said the car veered across the grassy center median into oncoming traffic and was hit on its passenger side by a vehicle heading west. A third vehicle then smashed into the other two, police said. Two young women, Katie O'Conner, 22, of Manalapan, and Natasha Zimora, 22, of Fairfax, Va., were in the car that hit Seetharaman's vehicle, police said. Both suffered extensive injuries and were in the intensive care unit at Capital Health System at Fuld hospital in Trenton. They remained in serious condition yesterday and Seetharaman remained in critical condition yesterday at the Trenton hospital, police said. A nursing supervisor at the hospital would not release any further information last night. The lone occupant of the third vehicle, Kristen Simko, 22, of Manalapan, was not seriously injured, police said. The cause of Seetharaman losing control of the car remains under investigation and no charges have been filed, a trooper at the Hamilton state police station said. Trooper J. Cipot is handling the investigation.
