3 Hurt After Car Strikes Tree on I-78 in Watchung

Three people were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries after the car they were in went off the roadway Sunday morning and struck a tree in the center median of Interstate 78 in Watchung.

The accident occurred near mile marker 42 in the westbound lanes at about 5:40 a.m. State Police Sgt. Brian Polite said.

Polite said Jamie Velazquez-Olneda, 21, of Allentown, Pa., was driving two other people in his black Honda Accord at the time of the incident.

The two passengers were Clariosol Rivera, 20, also of Allentown, and Wensday Jones, 24, of Clyde, N.C.

All three victims were rushed to Morristown Memorial Hospital, and they all have non-life-threatening injuries, Polite said.

The cause of the incident remains under investigation.