Serious accident closes turnpike, injures 4
EAST WINDSOR -- At least four people were seriously injured in a multiple-vehicle pileup that occurred along the northbound side of the New Jersey Turnpike at the start of the Monday evening commute, Turnpike Authority Spokesman Joe Orlando said.
The accident occurred about 4 p.m. near milepost 67.1 just south of Interchange 8 (Hightstown). At least five cars, a car-carrier tractor-trailer and another large truck were involved, Orlando said.
Firefighters from Hightstown Fire Department and other rescue personnel had to extricate several of the victims from the mangled wreckage. A state police medical helicopter was used to fly the most serious victim to the trauma center at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, while ambulances were used to transport other seriously injured victims to the trauma center.
There may have been other less-seriously injured victims who were transported by ambulance to other area hospitals, but information was not immediately available.
State police, Turnpike Authority officials, and state Department of Transportation crews immediately closed the entire northbound side of the Turnpike after the crash and forced all northbound traffic off the Turnpike at Interchange 7A in Washington Township. Motorists were detoured to westbound Interstate 195 and then to northbound Route 130.
The lane closures and detours created a backup of about 16 miles for northbound traffic, according to the state Department of Transportation's real time traffic advisory Web site.
Southbound traffic also backed up for several miles as a result of temporary lane closures to allow the helicopter to land and motorists slowing to look at the accident scene, Orlando said.
Because of the severity of the injuries, detectives from the state police's fatal accident investigation unit were called to the scene to investigate.
Contributed by Michael Ratcliffe
Hightstown/ East Windsor Township (Mercer)- During the late hours of the afternoon of Monday, April 9 2007, Rescue 140-10 was dispatched to respond to The New Jersey Turnpike North Bound in the area of Exit 8 for a Motor Vehicle Accident, 2nd due BLS. A car carrier tractor trailer collided with multiple cars causing a serious accident injuring several motorists. The accident shut down the north bound lanes of the Turnpike which backed up traffic for 9 miles.
