Extricated driver airlifted after SUV rear-ends tractor-trailer on northbound Route 287 in Mahwah

UPDATE: A 49-year-old motorist extricated after he’d become become “heavily entrapped” inside a BMW SUV that rammed into the back of a tractor-trailer on northbound Route 287 was being airlifted to St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center in Paterson.

Jerry DeMarco

05/04/2015 5:52 p.m.

Route 287 was closed in both directions as members of Mahwah Fire Department Rescue extricated the victim following the crash at mile marker 65 just before 12:30 p.m., Police Chief James Batelli told CLIFFVIEW PILOT.

Authorities had AirMed One out of Hackenack University Medical Center to come to the highway instead of the Sheraton Crossroads, and police closed the highway from the New York State line to Route 208 as it touched down on the median an hour later.

By 1:30, the victim was extricated. Responders initially described him as “moving but somewhat unresponsive.”

Within 15 minutes, the bird was in the air.

The tractor-trailer driver wasn’t injured.

PHOTO: Darrell Harley

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