3-Car Crash Kills 2 In South Jersey, Spilling Asphalt On Highway

Two people were killed Saturday morning in a three-car crash on a South Jersey highway, police said. Asphalt spilled on the highway and shut it down for hours.

Two people were pronounced dead at the scene. Thomas Martinez-Cruz, 27, and Reina Ortiz-Rodriguez, 21, both of Philadelphia, police said.

The two people were killed when a Chevrolet Suburban and a Nissan Sentra collided with an asphalt dump truck, causing the truck to overturn on Route 42 in near Deptford, police said.

The accident happened at 3:20 a.m. in the northbound lanes of Route 42, at milepost 13.1, near Route 55 interchange at Exit 13, police said.

The Sentra was entering Route 42 north when it struck the Mack dump truck. Shortly after that, the Suburban crashed into the truck, police said.

The Suburban driver, Martinez-Cruz, was ejected from the car and pronounced dead at the scene. The rear-seat passenger in the Suburban, Ortiz-Rodriguez, was pronounced dead at the scene. Three more people were hospitalized.

The roadway was shut down for about 5 hours, reopening before 9 a.m. Asphalt was spilled all over the highway, and roadworkers tended to the cleanup.

There were reports of residual traffic delays as late as 11:30 a.m.

This is a developing story. We'll have more information as it comes in.