Several hurt in deadly chain-reaction wreck on Route 1, officials say
Updated Aug 22, 11:55 PM; Posted Aug 22, 9:16 PM
By Noah Cohen
ncohen@njadvancemedia.com
NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
At least five people - including two children - were hurt in a fatal chain-reaction crash involving eight vehicles on Route 1 in Edison during the Wednesday evening rush hour, officials said.
One motorist suffered "potentially life-threatening injuries" in the the wreck, which occurred around 5:20 p.m. on the southbound highway near Prince Street, police spokesman Lt. Robert Dudash said in a statement.
Andrea Boulton, a spokeswoman for the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office, confirmed the crash was fatal, but did not immediately release more details.
The prosecutor's office was responding to investigate, the spokeswoman said.
The crash involved a tractor-trailer and minivan along with six other cars. Edison firefighters cut apart five badly damaged cars to free trapped drivers, township officials said in the statement.
"Many of the people removed from those vehicles sustained cuts, scrapes and complained of legs, back and shoulder pain," said Edison Fire Department Capt. Andy Toth.
Prosecutor's office investigators, the Middlesex County hazardous materials unit, state Department of Transportation and local emergency responders remained at the scene Wednesday night.
The highway was blocked from Main to Prince Street, according to an alert from police.
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Wednesday, August 22, 2018 11:37PM
EDISON, New Jersey (WABC) --
Multiple people were injured and several cars were seriously damaged in a multi-vehicle crash in New Jersey Tuesday night.
The incident was reported in the southbound lanes of Route 1 in Edison just before 5:30 p.m.
Officials said a tractor-trailer lost control and caused a crash with at least nine other vehicles.
Seven people, including two children, were injured and taken to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick. At least one person was critically injured.
"From the information I got from my daughters, my wife said oh my God, and that was it. It was all chaos after that," said Paul Castignetti, the husband of one of the victims.
His wife Victoria and their two teen daughters were in a minivan when the tractor-trailer crunched into it and spun them around. The girls were cut up, but OK. Victoria, however, is in critical condition.
"She has bleeding on the brain, a couple of rib fractures, that's really all I know so far," said Castignetti.
The accident happened at the height of rush hour on Route 1. "We were all stopped at the red light and this tractor trailer just didn't stop," said 19-year-old Austin Brooks, who was in one of the cars.
"And it was just a domino effect of cars you know spinning around," he said. "And next thing I know I get hit really hard from behind and then we spin out and next thing I realize I'm face first in the median."
The truck, operated by a company called Racing Transport, plowed through nine vehicles before it finally stopped. The driver also went to the hospital, where he was facing questions from Edison police.
"Some of the people in this accident I could just say it was very very bad scene," said Brooks.
"It's crazy. You never know day to day, you never know what life's gonna bring you," said Castignetti.
All southbound lanes were closed after the crash and traffic was diverted onto Amboy Avenue.
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By Tracie Strahan
August 23, 2018
NBC.com
At least one person is dead and six others, including children, were hurt in a tractor-trailer chain-reaction crash on a New Jersey highway, officials say.
The mangled wreck happened around 5:30 Wednesday evening on Route 1 in Edison, according to authorities.
One person is dead and six other people were injured when the driver of the big rig lost control and slammed into at least nine other cars. The extent of the injuries were not immediately clear late Wednesday.
Chopper 4 over the scene shows the tractor-trailer on the road with several wrecked cars strewn around it, including one that is nearly unrecognizable.
The area of Route 1 around the wreck was closed for hours, but has since reopened. It's still unclear what caused the truck driver to lose control.