Four killed in two major Somerset County, NJ crashes

🔴 Two fatal crashes in Somerset County are under investigation

🔴 Each crash killed two people

🔴 The genders and ages of the victims have been released

FRANKLIN (Somerset) — Two separate tragic crashes in Somerset County within two days of each other have killed four people.

The first crash involving three vehicles happened on Friday in Manville. Then on Sunday, an SUV on Route 27 drove off the road and hit a utility pole.

Investigations into both crashes are ongoing, according to the Somerset County Prosecutor's Office.

Double fatal Manville crash

The Manville police were called to a three-vehicle crash at the intersection of Main Street and Dukes Parkway East on Friday around 1:30 p.m., Somerset County Prosecutor John McDonald said.

A 75-year-old Manville woman driving a 2022 Chevrolet Traverse and a 52-year-old East Newark man driving a 2018 Mercedes Benz C300 were fatally injured in the wreck. The woman was taken to a nearby hospital in an ambulance while the man was airlifted to a hospital but both died from their injuries.

Another person, a 74-year-old Manville resident driving a Honda Civic, was injured but is expected to recover.

The investigation so far has found that the 75-year-old Manville woman was headed north on Main Street and went through the red light. Her Chevy hit the East Newark man's Mercedes as he drove east on Dukes Parkway. The force of the impact then sent the Mercedes into the Honda Pilot, McDonald said.

Double fatal Franklin (Somerset) crash

The crash in Franklin on Sunday involved only one vehicle but two of its passengers were killed, according to officials.

An Audi Q7 SUV with four people inside it was headed south on Route 27 around 6:22 a.m. when it left the road near Vorhees Avenue across from New Brunswick High School, McDonald said. The vehicle hit several trees, light posts, and a utility pole before coming to a stop in front of a salon.

The driver of the Audi was a 29-year-old Somerset resident who was injured and taken to a nearby trauma center in an ambulance. They are expected to recover. A 29-year-old man from Highland Park in the front passenger seat was injured but refused medical attention.

Both of the people sitting in the backseat were killed. They were a 24-year-old man from Somerset and a 20-year-old man from New Brunswick.

Authorities have not released any of the victims' names.

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