2 In Critical Condition After Crash Flips Dump Truck, Van In South Jersey: Police

FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP, NJ — A van and a sand-carrying dump truck collided Thursday morning in Franklin Township, flipping both vehicles into a field and leaving two passengers in critical condition, police said.

Two passengers were extracted from the residential-transportation van and airlifted to Cooper Hospital after the Gloucester County incident, authorities said. Christopher Solski, 31, and Nicholas Cournoyer, 42 — both Vineland residents — were in critical condition, according to police.

Charges are pending against the van driver — identified as Tamiko Graciani, 55, of Vineland — as of late Thursday morning, police said. Officials transported her to Inspira Medical Center Mullica Hill for neck and hip injuries.

The crash occurred just before 7 a.m. at Coles Mill Road and Stanton Avenue, according to the Franklin Township Police Department. The van, traveling south on Stanton Avenue, entered the intersection and collided with a dump truck that was moving west on Coles Mills Road, the agency said.

Both vehicles flipped onto their side and landed in a nearby field, police said.

Franklin Township Officer Alex Fragoso is investigating the crash.

The collision took place about a block away from Janvier Elementary School. On Sept. 27, law enforcement placed the school and a nearby daycare in a "secure perimeter status" as a potentially armed suspect barricaded himself in a nearby home, police said. With SWAT personnel activated, law enforcement safely arrested the individual, according to Franklin Township PD. Read more: Suspect Barricade Near South Jersey School, Daycare Ends In Arrest: PD