car accident

Thruway Crash Kills 2 Kids, Adult From NYC Family; 5 Relatives Hurt: Police

Five relatives were also hurt in the 8:30 p.m. accident near Kingston on Sunday, according to state police

POLICE SIREN GENERIC
NBC 4 New York

A tractor-trailer struck two stopped passenger vehicles on the Thruway in the Hudson Valley, killing two children and an adult from a New York City family over the weekend, police said.

Justin Gayapersad, 10, Chelsea Gayapersad, 14, and Zulika Salim, 47, of the Bronx were back-seat passengers in a 2012 Honda Accord when it was rammed by the tractor-trailer heading south. They were pronounced dead at the scene.

Five relatives were also hurt in the 8:30 p.m. accident near Kingston on Sunday, according to state police.

Tractor-trailer driver Luc Leblanc, 61, of Sala derry-de-val, Quebec, tried to avoid a collision when he came upon stopped traffic, but struck the Honda from behind, pushing the car about 500 feet forward and off the southbound lanes, police said.

While pushing the Honda, the truck struck the rear passenger side of a 2007 Kia Sedona minivan, which also went off the road, police said.

The driver of the Honda and a front-seat passenger suffered minor injuries and were taken to local hospitals.

One passenger in the Kia was airlifted to Albany Medical Center and two other passengers were taken to local hospitals with minor injuries.

Police said occupants of the Honda and the Kia were all family members from the Bronx. Their investigation of the accident is ongoing.

Copyright NBC New York/Associated Press
Contact Us