2 Dead in Friday's Thruway Crash Were From NYC

The 3-truck smash-up on the New York State Thruway Friday killed two New York City men and seriously injured a Connecticut man, according to the Nyack Free Press.

State police investigating the 9:47 a.m. crash found that a box truck carrying mattresses cut across traffic and hit two other vehicles, a passenger car and another box truck. It then crossed into southbound traffic and was hit by a tractor-trailer.

Both men in it died. They were Rambaran Hemankumar, 33, of Jamaica, New York, and passenger Juan Soto, 20, of Woodhaven, New York.

The driver of the tractor-trailer, Tyrone Poole, 43, of New Haven, Connecticut, was seriously injured. The driver of the passenger vehicle, a Dodge Ram, was uninjured, though one of his three passengers was hurt slightly. The driver of the second box truck, Peter Lebron, 24, of Newburgh was uninjured.

The southbound Thruway was closed for hours during the investigation and traffic was diverted at Exit 15.

In addition to state troopers, volunteers from the Hillburn and Tallman fire departments rushed to the site of the accident, Bill Demarest of the Nyack Free Press reported.

PHOTO/Rockland County