Three dead, 12 injured in New Jersey crash with cattle trailer

All traffic is being detoured off exit 26.

State police say several people and animals are injured after a crash involving a auto, a passenger van and a truck carrying cows.

Xu Feng Ma was driving a 2003 Ford passenger van northbound on Interstate 287 with 12 passengers when he traveled onto the right shoulder, struck the guardrail, the cattle trailer, and then the Dodge truck.

State police say the crash happened Saturday night about 30 miles west of New York City on Interstate 287.

Officers only reopened the section of interstate, in Bernards Township, New Jersey, this morning after last night’s horrific accident. The crash occurred near milepost 29.1. Nine were taken to Robert Wood Johnson Hospital in Somerset with non-life-threatening injuries.

The cause of the crash is under investigation. Two people died at the scene while a third died at Morristown Medical Center.

Two people in Morristown Memorial Hospital suffered serious injuries but are described as now being in a stable condition.

State Police cautioned that the information was preliminary and investigators were continuing to work at the scene.

One person refused medical treatment, the statement said.