Toni Yates and Shannon Sohn have the latest
By Toni Yates
Updated 12 mins ago
LINDEN (WABC) -- One person was killed and traffic was tied up for miles after a dump truck struck an overpass Tuesday morning on the New Jersey Turnpike.
The NJ Turnpike is now opening all lanes to traffic. Repairs to the wiring under the overpass is complete ahead of estimates.
State police confirmed the fatality, believed to be the dump truck driver, after rescuers were able to get into the truck which overturned and caught fire following the crash in Linden.
The accident happened on the southbound outer roadway just north of Interchange 12 - Carteret-Rahway, between exits 12 and 13A, around 10:45 a.m.
State police described the accident as very serious and said the driver was trapped in the tractor trailer-sized dump truck, which they believe struck the overpass before bursting into flames.
Traffic stretched back for miles before state troopers blocking the road removed barriers so vehicles could turn around.
Traffic on the New Jersey Turnpike was backed up for miles in both directions after a dump truck overturned and caught fire.
By late afternoon huge backups remained, with traffic on the Turnpike bumper to bumper for least five miles and surrounding roadways gridlocked as drivers tried to avoid the area.
Some motorists got out of their cars after sitting in traffic for several hours, talking with other stranded travelers. Some tossed a football around, while others pulled out beach chairs and sat in the sun.
Linden police were advised by the state police to shut down the South Wood Avenue Bridge that goes over the highway until it could be deemed safe. Electrical wires in the South Wood Avenue overpass had to be removed by PSE&G crews.
Elizabethtown Gas Spokesperson Duane Bourne confirmed there was no damage to their gas line that runs along the bridge, and inspectors determined the overpasses were not seriously damaged. Traffic began using them again in the mid afternoon.
(First video courtesy Rob Long)Traffic is flowing across the damaged overpass, after engineers determined it was still sturdy enough for trucks headed to a warehouse on the other side. It had been shut down for hours after the crash due to serious concerns over the power lines that were then dangling underneath.
"On top of the bridge itself there's a fence and also metal rails, so if the power lines were compromised there was a chance that they could have been electrified," said Linden Police Capt. James Sarnicki. "So we were advised almost immediately to have everybody get off the bridge."
New Jersey Transit trains were honoring bus passes after the accident delayed bus passengers.