It happened just after 5:30 a.m. at the intersection of Bergen Street and Madison Avenue, where authorities say an out-of-control SUV careened into two light poles before slamming into the side of a house, overturning and bursting into flames.
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Newark Mayor Ras Baraka said the SUV was stolen in Elizabeth and was driven by two teenage boys who were pronounced dead at the scene.
They were identified as 17-year-old Quadre Robinson and 19-year-old Quayim Battle. The cause of death for both males will be determined by autopsies by the Northern Regional Medical Examiner's office in Newark.
A resident told Eyewitness News that children were in the house at the time of the crash.
"I could see a fireball under the car, like the car was on fire," dad Najee Johnson said. "I jumped into action. I just started to grab my babies out of the house."
Johnson grabbed his five children from their second-story apartment and made a run for it. No one inside the house was injured, but the family's minivan was also damaged.
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Police say the two teenagers were entrapped in the vehicles as a result of the crash. Baraka said a gun was also found in the car.
Newark officials examined the building after the crash and have determined it is no longer structurally sound due to the impact of the crash.
Displaced residents were forced to seek other shelter.
"Where am I going to sleep tonight?" Johnson said. "Where's my family going to go? What's the next step? What's the options?"
Deadly crash in Newark, NJ
The Essex County Prosecutor's Office is investigating.
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"My heart goes out to the family," Johnson said. "I just hope they OK, and it's sad that somebody lost their life, two people lost their lives."
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