A 39-year-old Bergenfield man is being treated at a hospital in Mexico after a serious crash left him and four other people injured on a major highway in Puebla. Bergenfield Mayor Arvin Amatorio said the crash set off a social media effort to track down the man's family, and borough officials have since stepped in to help connect them with resources both at home and abroad.
The man, identified as Phillip Sang, was a passenger involved in a collision reported on the morning of Wednesday, September 30, on the México-Tuxpan highway in the municipality of Venustiano Carranza, Puebla, according to Municipios Puebla. The outlet reported the crash involved an orange Subaru WRX sedan and a pickup truck. According to Daily Voice, Sang and four others were seriously injured and taken to Huauchinango General Hospital, per a social media post cited by the mayor.
Municipios Puebla also identified another crash victim, 49-year-old Elioh César Ortega, who was transported to a separate IMSS hospital in nearby Villa Ávila Camacho.
Emergency Crews Responded Along a Busy Mountain Corridor
Local Civil Protection paramedics from Venustiano Carranza provided on-scene emergency aid, while officers from Mexico's National Guard set up traffic safety perimeters along the highway to prevent additional collisions, according to Oro Noticias. The México-Tuxpan highway is a major federal transit corridor completed in 2014 that links Mexico City and central industrial regions to the Gulf Coast port of Tuxpan, cutting through mountainous terrain in Puebla, per a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing. The route sees heavy daily commercial truck traffic and intercity passenger travel.
Huauchinango General Hospital, where Sang was admitted, is a public regional facility in Puebla's Sierra Norte region. The hospital was recently designated to receive new medical instrumentation through a municipal public works program, according to a report from C24Siete.
Mayor Steps In to Help Family Navigate the Crisis
Bergenfield was notified of the situation Thursday, and the Bergenfield Police Department was asked to help reach Sang's address and family members, the borough said. Mayor Amatorio said he personally spoke with Sang's father and confirmed that Sang is currently receiving treatment at the hospital. Sang's family is aware of the situation and is in contact with the U.S. Embassy in Mexico, according to the mayor.
The Borough of Bergenfield has offered assistance to Sang's family, Amatorio said. The mayor thanked the people who brought the matter to the borough's attention and praised the Bergenfield Police Department for responding quickly and helping connect with the family.
Amatorio, who is a licensed U.S. immigration attorney, was elected mayor in November 2019 and took office in January 2020 after previously serving on the Bergenfield Borough Council, according to GMA Network. This is not the first time Bergenfield's municipal leadership has mobilized around an overseas emergency involving a resident — in August, Amatorio publicly offered town support following the death of a New Jersey mother in a Colombia earthquake, as reported by CNN International.
Overseas Medical Care Carries Steep Costs, Limited Federal Help
U.S. Department of State consular guidelines make clear that while American embassies abroad help injured citizens find medical care and communicate with family, the federal government does not cover medical or hospital bills incurred overseas. That distinction can matter significantly for families like Sang's: State Department travel advisory data shows that private emergency medical air evacuations to bring critically injured Americans back to domestic hospitals can cost between $20,000 and $200,000, depending on location and medical needs.
That financial reality often means local support — whether from municipal governments or community fundraising — becomes essential for families managing a loved one's medical emergency abroad. Bergenfield, a tightly packed suburb of 28,321 residents within just 2.9 square miles, according to U.S. Census data reported by Zip-Codes.com, has leaned on that kind of close-knit mobilization before.
Several details remain unresolved, including Sang's current medical condition, whether his family is considering an air-ambulance evacuation back to New Jersey, and the formal outcome of the ongoing investigation into the crash's cause. Hoodline will update this story as more information becomes available.
