NEW YORK -- Three generations of a family died in a horrifying crash just a few miles from home when the SUV they were traveling in plunged more than 50 feet off a highway overpass and into a ravine on the grounds of the Bronx Zoo, killing all seven aboard, including three children.

"Sometimes you come upon events that are horrific and this is one of them," FDNY deputy Chief Ronald Werner said shortly after the crash. seatbelt

Authorities were trying to determine what caused Sunday's accident that killed Jacob Nunez, 85, and Ana Julia Martinez, 81, both from the Dominican Republic, their daughters, Maria Gonzalez, 45, and Maria Nunez, 39, and three grandchildren. Police say Gonzalez was driving, and all the victims were wearing seat belts.

The children were identified as Jocelyn Gonzalez, 10, the daughter of the driver, Niely Rosario, 7, and Marly Rosario, 3, both daughters of Nunez.

"They were a good, wholesome family," a Bronx neighbor, Felicia Lee, 29, told the Daily News.

"The mother always kept an eye on her children. They were typical little girls. They were gorgeous. They were so pretty," Lee said.

The accident was the second in the past year where a car fell off the same stretch of the Bronx River Parkway.

Werner said the crash scene, less than five miles from Gonzalez's Bronx home, was difficult to see, with contents of the van, including a pink schoolbag, strewn about.

"When you see young kids that have been hurt or injured or lose their life, it's always harder than if you find someone that's an elder age," Werner said. "It affects all our units."