A head-on collision between two cars on the New York State Thruway in New Baltimore around 1am Friday morning left two dead and two injured, including a four-month-old baby, police announced today.
According to a news release from the New York State Police. 43-year-old Julian With, a resident of Coxsackie, was driving the wrong way in the southbound lane when his Ford sedan collided with a Ford minivan carrying two women and a baby, killing one of the women.
Both With and minivan passenger Carol Dion, a 50-year-old Canadian from Stony Creek, Ontario, were pronounced dead at the scene. Their bodies were taken to St. Peter's Hospital for autopsy.
The driver of the minivan, 39-year-old Karen Weller of Hamilton, Ontario, was injured, along with her four-month-old baby Tajaye Weller. Both were taken to Albany Medical Center.
A news report from the Capital Region's News10 states that police were alerted shortly before the crash that a car was traveling the wrong way on the Thruway.
The Times-Union, which has a photo of the wreckage, reports that With's car burst into flames upon impact. The Albany newspaper reports that both Weller and her baby are expected to survive.
Police say they are still conducting an investigation into why With was going the wrong direction, and where he entered the Thruway.
Responding to the scene, along with the New York State Police, were the New Baltimore Fire Department, the Ravena Rescue Squad and Greene Paramedics.
