SUV driver dies in fiery chain-reaction crash with tractor-trailers on Bronx expressway

A driver was killed early Tuesday when her Range Rover was crushed and exploded into flames in a terrifying chain-reaction crash on the Cross Bronx Expressway, according to police.

Shelly Vilsaint of Bayonne, N.J., was driving west on the expressway when she rear-ended a USPS tractor-trailer in the center lane near University Ave. around 12:30 a.m., cops said.

She got out of her car and spoke to the driver of the tractor-trailer, who suggested they pull over to the shoulder.

Vilsaint, 49, got back into her vehicle to call 911, but did not pull over.

Moments later, the driver of another tractor trailer slammed into the back of the Vilsaint’s Range Rover, cops said. Vilsaint was the only one in her car.

She and her car were pushed underneath the USPS truck she had rear ended earlier.

The Range Rover flipped and exploded into flames, police said.

When first responders arrived, all three vehicles were on fire but the tractor-trailer drivers, ages 43 and 53, had escaped their rigs unscathed. The blaze nearly obliterated all the autos.

All of the Cross Bronx Expressway’s southbound lanes were shut down for several hours as firefighters put out the blaze and police launched an investigation into the crash.