Four dead and eight injured after passenger van flips on New Jersey interstate

ABC 7 New York/video screengrab

At least four people were killed and eight more injured when a passenger van shuttling workers from an upstate New York factory back to their homes flipped on a New Jersey highway, authorities said.

At around 1.25am Friday, a Ford Econoline van carrying 12 passengers rolled over while travelling south on the Palisades Interstate Parkway in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.

The large vehicle then spiralled into the centre of the median, ABC 7 New York reported.

First responders arriving at the scene found the dozen people trapped inside the van and all of them needed to be carefully extricated from inside.

Four of the people who were trapped inside the vehicle were pronounced dead at the scene, while five were rushed to Hackensack University Medical Center, one to Jersey City Medical Center, one to Holy Name Medical Center in Teaneck, and another person was taken to Englewood Health.

First responders extricate the dozen people found inside a crashed passenger van that flipped in the early hours on a New Jersey highway (ABC 7 New York/video screengrab)

The eight surviving passengers were reported to be suffering from injuries that ranged from severe head trauma to minor injuries, ABC 7 New York reported.

An early morning crash on the Palisades Interstate Parkway in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey left at least four people dead and eight injured when a passenger van flipped and landed in the center median (ABC 7 New York/video screengrab)

Authorities said the cause behind the accident is under investigation.