More Than 30 Injured In Bus, Tractor-Trailer Crash On NJ Turnpike
GLOUCESTER COUNTY, N.J. (CBS) -- More than 30 people were rushed to the hospital after a tour bus and a tractor-trailer crashed on the New Jersey Turnpike overnight.
It happened on the southbound lanes of the NJ Turnpike, near mile-marker 19, around 1 a.m. That's in the area of West Deptford Township, New Jersey.
A Turnpike spokesperson said a tractor-trailer collided with a bus carrying 49 passengers. The impact caused the tractor-trailer to jackknife and the bus to overturn into some bushes on the side of the highway.
"I woke up at the part where the bus was flipping over. It was scary, I didn't think we were going to make it," said" passenger Christy Worthy. "I thought we were falling down a hill or something cause that's what it felt like, for real."
Thirty-two of the bus passengers were transported to area hospitals with minor injuries. The bus driver and tractor-trailer driver were not injured.
Passengers say it's been frustrating trying to get their luggage and make arrangements to reach their final destinations.
"I'm swollen up, my suitcase is on the bus, my money dropped in the air. It's just terrible," said passenger Wanda Davis. "I was in the third seat and we flipped over and I smashed into the other chair. They had to get me out, we were smashed up on the other side."
Officials say the tour bus departed New York City and was heading to Virginia and Atlanta.
The southbound lanes of the NJ Turnpike were closed for several hours overnight but have since reopened.
The cause of the crash remains under investigation.