Dump truck slams into home in New Jersey

KYW

By Taleisha Newbill, Jim McHugh, Aziza Shuler, Ed Specht, Joe Holden

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    GLOUCESTER COUNTY, New Jersey (KYW) — The driver of a dump truck was removed safely after slamming into a home in Gloucester County, New Jersey, on Tuesday afternoon.

Before the crash, the truck loaded with sand struck a utility pole and then ran through multiple lawns. The homeowner, who was inside the house on Glassboro Road in Woodbury Heights, has been rescued.

The truck driver, who was having a medical emergency when he veered off the road, is also OK.

About 75-100 first responders were on the scene, and it took more than an hour to free the driver, who was trapped by the collapsed house.

Gloucester County Emergency Response Chief Andrew Halter said people from a home close to the collapsed house were removed as a safety precaution.

Driver was having a medical emergency

The owner of Zeisloft Trucking, Charles Zeisloft, said his driver was having a seizure when he lost control.

Zeisloft said he watched the dashcam video of the accident, and then the driver called him moments later.

“He kept assuring me that he was OK,” Zeisloft said. “That he wasn’t in any kind of pain.”

Both the driver and the homeowner are reportedly in stable condition and were taken to the hospital for evaluation.

“If it wasn’t for the grace of God, there would have been a lot of people injured,” Zeisloft said.

Neighbors run to help

The neighbors said they heard the homeowner scream for help. One neighbor across the street was on her way out with her child before the crash.

“I heard a loud crash and then, next thing I know, there’s a truck in my neighbor’s house,” Samantha Burke said. “I ran out, I called 911, then we went across the street because we smelled gas.”

“I’m babysitting 4-year-old twins and we’re just hanging out, having a good day, then this happened,” Katie Jordan said. “My heart stopped. … This is like the busiest road.”

Next-door neighbor Derek Keating heard a thud and ran outside.

Despite a hissing gas leak, Keating got inside the collapsed house and kept the homeowner calm, speaking with him through a hole in the floor.

He said he could see he was hurt, and after living next door to each other for three years, this was actually the first time the two ever met and chatted.

“What do you do in a situation? If you hear a guy screaming for help, and you think you could possibly help him. What are you not going to do something?” Keating said. “I guess I did what I had to do to help him.”

The homeowner’s brother tells CBS News Philadelphia his brother was sitting in his favorite lounging chair when the truck crashed into the house, knocking him through two walls.

He said his brother is doing physically OK and continues to recover at the hospital.

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