1 Killed, 5 Injured In Fatal Chain-Reaction Crash On Garden State Parkway In Union County

CRANFORD, NJ — A 19-year-old Hillside man was seriously injured and his front-seat passenger was killed in a late-night chain-reaction crash on the Garden State Parkway in Cranford, according New Jersey State Police(NJSP).

The crashes happened on Saturday around 11:50 p.m. when Nicholas J. McLean, driving a Mercedes-Benz passenger vehicle, rear-ended a Kia in the area of milepost 139.2, according to police.

The Kia then spun and hit an Acura SUV as the Mercedes continued forward and hit a Toyota passenger vehicle. That impact pushed the Toyota off the road before it overturned, according to the police.

The Mercedes-Benz then ran off the highway to the right and hit two trees. The front-seat passenger in that vehicle was killed in the impact, police said.

A secondary crash was also reported where another Mercedes-Benz passenger car changed lanes to try to avoid the wreck, but hit the Acura SUV, according to police.

McLean was seriously injured and taken to an area hospital.

The drivers of the Toyota, Acura, Nissan, and the second Mercedes-Benz were treated for minor injuries at an area hospital, according to police.

The crash remains under investigation.

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