On June 1st, a crash involving a semi truck and a car on a New York highway ended in tragedy.

At 3:40 a.m., a 911 call was placed by a woman who told the Middletown state police that she had run out of gas on I-84. All of the sudden, the 911 operator heard a loud crash and then silence from the caller.

Soon after, another 911 caller reported that at semi truck had just drifted off the road.

Troopers arrived at the scene of the accident in the town of Wawayanda.

It was soon discovered that the driver of the Volkswagen Passat had run out of gas, stopped in a driving lane and then was hit by an oncoming semi truck.

According to NBC 4 New York, the car’s driver, 29-year-old Jesenia Valentin of Bridgeport, Connecticut, and her 9-year-old daughter, Angelina Rodriguez died on impact. Her daughter was in the back seat at the time of the crash. Also killed was an unidentified adult female passenger and two dogs.

The semi truck, driven by 52-year-old Gino Ruggiero of Sugar Loaf, Pennsylvania was traveling west on I-84 when he hit the stopped car. The truck driver told officials that he didn’t realize the truck was stopped until it was too late.

A police officer explained what happened from the trucker’s perspective:

“He says he sees the lights and believes the vehicle is moving, come upon it and discovers at the last second that the vehicle’s not moving, and strikes the rear of it.”

Troopers say the wreck could have been prevented.

If she had pulled over to the shoulder after running out of gas, or abandoned her vehicle altogether, moving far from the scene, lives would have been saved.

The westbound lanes of I-84 were closed for around 8 hours and have since reopened.

Troopers reported that the trucker was not injured but was very distressed. The truck driver has a clean record and does not face any charges.