New York: A 23-year-old Indian man was killed when a van struck his car on the side of a highway in New Jersey, an accident that also claimed the lives of two more persons.
Ravi Naik, a New Jersey resident, was pronounced dead after being brought to a local hospital following the accident, as per media report.
Twelve people also injured in the accident. The accident occurred Saturday when a passenger van packed with restaurant workers returning home from work hit a car, a truck and a trailer hauling cattle that were parked on the side of the highway.
Offering a time-line of the accident, the New Jersey State Police said “Troy Chase, 43, a trucker pulled his truck over on the right shoulder of the highway to repair the cattle trailer he was towing. After some time, a car driven by Naik struck the trailer but Naik pulled over and got out of his car. As the two men stood beside their vehicles, a van carrying 12 passengers drifted onto the right shoulder of the highway, into the guardrail”.
“It then hit the truck, the cattle trailer and Naiks car before fatally striking him”, the police said. Naik was pronounced dead at Morristown Medical Center in Morristown an hour later.
“Two of the van’s passengers were pronounced dead at the scene. They have not been identified, pending notification of their families”, the police said.
“Naik worked in data analytics for a media marketing firm in Manhattan”, his cousin Neel Naik said.
“He had studied statistics and economics at Rutgers University and was known for putting others before himself”, his cousin said.
After graduation, he turned down a job offer and stayed home to care for a sick grandparent.
PTI