🎙️ Voice is AI-generated. Inconsistencies may occur.
A multi-vehicle crash on Friday took a turn for the bizarre due to the involvement of a horse trailer and a van that was headed to a funeral home.
The pile-up occurred at around 3:45 p.m. on New Jersey's Route 17 South in Paramus, according to the Daily Voice. Among the individuals involved, three suffered minor injuries and needed to be taken to the hospital for treatment.
One particular vehicle occupant suffered no injuries in the midst of the chaos, since they were already dead. A Honda Odyssey en route to a funeral home from a nearby hospital was involved in the crash. As a result, a corpse that was wrapped in a sheet on a stretcher in the back of the car was ejected onto the street, the Paramus Police reported on Facebook.
Luckily, the body suffered no damage and was picked up by a different vehicle that continued on to the funeral home, Paramus Police Chief Kenneth Ehrenberg told the Daily Voice.
Log into Facebook to start sharing and connecting with your friends, family, and people you know.
The crash began when a pickup truck hauling the horse trailer rear-ended a Jeep Wrangler as traffic came to a stand-still. It is unclear at this time what caused the pickup driver to crash into the other vehicle.
"It always comes to a dead stop by the Garden State Plaza," said Brittany Garabedian, who was the driver of the Jeep, according to the Daily Voice. "I have a habit of looking in my rearview after I brake, and I saw a trailer flying and not slowing down. At that second everything happened—loud tires screeching with BOOM BOOM BOOM AND BOOM."
The horse in the trailer was uninjured in the accident, Ehrenberg reported. The animal's handler took it to the side of the road to get away from the chaos and eat some grass while the situation was handled.
Garabedian said that she hit her head and nose on the steering wheel as a result of the accident, leaving her unable to get out and help anyone, according to the Daily Voice. She was later confirmed to have suffered a concussion, among other injuries. Her Jeep was hit so hard, she explained, the broken glass from her rear window ended up on the hood.
"It felt like a dream," she said. "Very scary. The EMTs and paramedics were so helpful."
Several other individuals involved in the pile-up were tended to by first responders and refused further medical attention.
Newsweek reached out to the Paramus Police Department for a comment or update on this story.
About the writer
Thomas Kika is a Newsweek weekend reporter based in upstate New York. His focus is reporting on crime and national ... Read more