Tow Truck Driver, Wife Die in Fiery Crash

A husband and wife responding to a crash wound up as crash victims.

Police are investigating the fiery wreck that claimed the lives of a husband and wife driving to the scene of an accident in their tow truck in Jackson.

Police say 70-year-old Robert Johnson, and his 62-year-old wife, Shirley, were on Leesville Road when the flatbed truck went through a stop sign, crashed into trees and burst into flames Tuesday night.

Police Sgt. Brian Geoghegan tells The Star-Ledger of Newark flames drove back police and Good Samaritans who tried using fire extinguishers to rescue the couple.

β€œThey were forced back by the increasing fire and unable to rescue the occupants who were pinned inside the damaged vehicle,” Geoghegan said in a report obtained by the paper.

The Johnsons were pronounced dead at the scene.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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