Lincoln Tunnel Accident two buses collided with a motorcycle
Officials are working to reopen the center tube of the Lincoln Tunnel hours after a crash involving a motorcycle and three buses.
Port Authority spokeswoman Jennifer Friedberg says the crash happened around 7:27 a.m., about three-quarters of the way toward Manhattan in the tunnel that connects New Jersey and New York City. The accident is under investigation.
Friedberg says the motorcycle rider is in critical condition. New York City's Fire Department says there are about 30 other injuries, but none are life-threatening. About half the injured were sent to hospitals.
Port Authority police are having traffic behind the crash site back up to the New Jersey side of the tunnel.
Friedberg says NJ Transit operated two of the buses and Monsey Tours operated the third.
Extensive traffic delays are easing.
52 hurt in Lincoln Tunnel accident; motorcyclist severely injured, intubated
More information has surfaced about the accident in the Manhattan-bound center tube of the Lincoln Tunnel earlier this morning.
According to the New York Fire Department, two buses collided with a motorcycle in the tunnel.
The motorcyclist was severely injured and brought to Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan with a fractured femur and shoulder, an FDNY spokesperson said. The crash victim was intubated at the hospital, the spokesperson added.
A total of 52 people were injured in the incident. Some were treated at the scene, while 13 were taken to Roosevelt Hospital in New York.
North Hudson Regional Fire and Rescue Co-Director Jeff Welz spoke with Port Authority officials who estimated that the center tube will remain closed for a "good part of the day" as officials investigate the accident.
Welz also said that New Jersey sent in eight ambulances on standby at the Weehawken end of the Lincoln Tunnel.
According to Jersey City Medical Center spokesman Mark Rabson, the Weehawken Volunteer Ambulance Squad were first on the scene after the accident.
Rabson said that JCMC was one of many that responded to the scene but did not take any patients since it was easier for emergency vehicles to transport those injured into Manhattan from the tunnel.
Rabson also noted that JCMC, Palisades Medical Center, Hoboken University Medical Center, Meadowlands Hospital, the recently sold Bayonne Medical Center, EMS and Port Authority held an emergency drill in November to train the crews to respond to situations in the Lincoln and Holland tunnels.
