A pile of mattresses on top of a cargo van sprang loose onto the New Jersey Turnpike Wednesday afternoon, forcing a tanker truck driver to swerve so suddenly that his truck flipped over a guardrail and instantly burst into flames, killing him, authorities and witnesses say. The fire on the northbound side of exit 15W in Kearny sent thick black smoke into the air that was visible from New York City as firefighters worked to douse the flames that raged around the charred carcass of the truck. Delays were heavy on both sides of the highway through the evening rush.
A dashboard camera equipped on another truck captured the crash as the tanker truck driver swerved to avoid hitting an SUV that cut in front of him, according to Kevin Hauer, the witness with the dash cam footage.
Hauer, a truck driver from Michigan, told NBC 4 New York he saw a cargo van carrying four mattresses on top about 10 to 15 miles before the crash.
Suddenly, "I saw the mattresses up ahead, like it scattered into the lanes," he said.
A few cars swerved to try to avoid the mattresses, the dash cam video shows.