Van carrying special needs passengers crashes into house in New Jersey

FAIR LAWN, New Jersey (WABC) -- Police say the driver of a van transporting two special needs passengers crashed into the front of a house in New Jersey Monday morning, injuring four people.

The Ford Transport van, belonging to ARC Community Services of Bergen & Passaic Counties,,ran into the house on 17th Street and Zink Place in Fair Lawn shortly after 10 a.m.

The vehicle pushed the front wall of the house inward and then became wedged in between the house and a telephone pole, according to police.

The passengers were trapped inside the van, with the exit doors blocked because of the telephone pole.

They were removed through other doors.

Police say the driver of the van, a 28-year-old woman from Hackensack, became "confused" when pulling out of the parking lot across the street and ended up striking the house.

The impact was so powerful the rear of the van lifted off the ground and the van was pinned between the house and a utility pole.

Rescuers had to remove a special security bar from the van to rescue the special needs patients.

The driver and an aide sitting in the front were taken to Hackensack University Medical Center with head and neck injuries.

A male special needs adult was taken to Hackensack University Medical Center with an arm injury. A female special needs adult was taken to St. Joseph's Medical Center with a hip injury.

All of the injuries are considered non-life-threatening.

There is significant damage to the house. Officials say it is currently uninhabitable as a result of the crash.

The residents of the house are out of the country.