A New Jersey man was killed on the Pennsylvania Turnpike in Carbon County after a tractor-trailer crashed through the median and into the vehicle he was driving.

The driver, identified by state police as Harry Jackson III, 33, of Brigantine, was traveling along the northbound lanes with his fiancee when the crash occurred.

Carbon County Coroner Robert Miller said the autopsy was scheduled for today.

The crash happened at 5:34 p.m. on Friday near mile marker 79.2 of the Northeast Extension.

According to state police, a tractor-trailer, driven by Cheick O. Yameogo, 41, of Philadelphia, was traveling southbound on I-476 when it left the roadway on the right side, struck an embankment and then traveled back across the southbound lanes.

After traveling across the southbound lanes, the rig struck and traveled over/through the concrete center divider.

Troopers said two vehicles traveling northbound struck the tractor-trailer and another three vehicles traveling northbound were struck by concrete pieces from the center divider.

Six vehicles were involved in the crash.

In addition to the deceased, one passenger, identified as Nafisatu Jalloh, 39, of Upper Darby, was flown to St. Luke’s and then transferred to Jefferson Hospital in Philadelphia, troopers said. Three other people, identified as Yameogo; Edward Nylander, 42, of Upper Darby; and Jennifer A. Solly, 34, of Brigatine, New Jersey, were taken to hospitals for minor injuries.

Three other people, identified by troopers as Nancy K. Levinson, 63, of North Abington Township; Maksim Gurin, 29, of Philadelphia; and Lori A. Curran, 57, of Conyngham, were not injured.

The cause of the crash is still under investigation.

Nan and Monroe Cressley, who live right across from the turnpike in Franklin Township, heard the crash and thought a truck had blown a tire. But then, they saw traffic slowing and decided to head to the turnpike to see what was going on.

When the couple reached the top of the road, they climbed over the fence and saw carnage everywhere.

“When I got over the grass, I saw everything was right there in front of me. It was like a war zone,” Nan said. “I never saw anything like it.” Nan and Monroe saw a woman sitting on the side of the road in hysterics. She was a passenger in the vehicle with the most damage. Her fiance was still in the vehicle and she asked them to help him.

Nan said that she looked and realized that he was already gone, and they turned to help shield the woman from seeing any more.

The pair had been traveling from New Jersey to New York for a wedding, Nan said, when the crash occurred. The couple was also going to be married next week.

The Cressleys looked around to see who else needed help, and Nan said that there was a woman who missed being injured by inches and one in critical condition due to a head injury.

“It looked like somebody had just dropped a bomb,” she said. “There was debris everywhere. There was cement, huge cement blocks thrown up over the hill and onto the grass.”

Nan said she isn’t quite sure how the tractor-trailer crashed, but she said many truckers don’t realize just how steep that decline is in that area.

She said that the rig must have lost control, gone up the hill and driven through the grass before crossing lanes and hitting the median.

“He broke that to smithereens,” she said.

Pieces of the rig were shot into vehicles and came to rest in the northbound lanes of the turnpike, some on fire.

“The front wheel axle was completely torn off and on fire. The tires were on fire. The gas tank was just laying there.”

Nan said one woman was lucky to be alive because a piece of the concrete struck her vehicle, missing her by inches.

“She would have been killed if she would have been just inches further,” she said.

The driver of the rig was able to crawl out of the truck, and was eventually taken to the hospital.

Once emergency crews arrived and shut down the road, the Cressleys said they watched the medical helicopter take two patients to a Lehigh Valley area hospital.

Nan said that after several hours, PennDOT crews began turning motorists around so they could get off the turnpike, but the tractor-trailers remained until the road opened at approximately 5 a.m. Saturday.

“I just can’t believe how it was,” Nan said. “How it looked. That truck was just completely torn apart. It was really unbelievable.”