Fatal Accident Closes Parts of Interstate 84

Update Thursday 9:00 a.m.: This story has been updated to reflect more information on what caused the fatal crash.

An accident early Wednesday morning killed 3 people, as well as two animals, and closed parts Interstate 84 in the Hudson Valley for 8 hours.

Around 4:00 a.m. Wednesday, a 2006 Volkswagen Passat ran out of gas in the right driving lane of I-84 near Middletown. A tractor-trailer slammed into the stopped car on the darkened highway.

The crash pushed both cars into the center medium. The accident closed both westbound lanes between exits 2 and 3 at mile marker 12 on I-84 for 8 hours.

Two adults in the front seat of the car, a child in the back seat, and two dogs lost their lives.

State Police identified two of the victims as Jesenia Valentin, 29, of Bridgeport, Conn., and her 9-year-old daughter Angelina Rodriguez. The other victim has not been named.

All three were moving from Bridgeport to Connecticut.

Police said minutes before the crash there was a 911 call from a driver reporting their car ran out of gas.

"(She) was able to stay on the line with 911 for three minutes when the accident was heard by the 911 operator," New York State Police Captain Brendan Casey told ABC. "The line was cut off."

The driver of the tractor-trailer, 52-year-old Gino Ruggiero, of Sugar Loaf, Pennsylvania, was not injured.

The investigation into the crash is on-going. No charges have been filed at this time.

Police are reminding everyone if your car ever breaks down in the driving lanes on a highway, you should leave the vehicle immediately.

"I would exit the vehicle and walk over the guard rail into the woods and wait there," Casey said. "That vehicle has a high probability that it's going to get struck."