School Bus Crashes, Overturns On New Jersey Turnpike
EAST BRUNSWICK, New Jersey (CBS York) -- A school bus carrying 42 people returning to Newark from a picnic overturned Saturday afternoon on the New Jersey Turnpike in East Brunswick.
Police say there were no fatalities or serious injuries in the crash around 5:30 p.m. that caused the bus to flip over and block multiple lanes of traffic.
Authorities originally described the crash as a hit-and-run collision in which another vehicle reportedly sped off from the scene, but Newark Mayor Ras Baraka said Saturday night it was too soon to make that assessment as the investigation was continuing.
The bus was heading back to Newark from the Mayor's Family Reunion/Picnic at the Black Bear Lake Country Club in Millstone, N.J.
Those aboard the bus were taken to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick and JFK Medical Center in Edison for treatment of non-life threatening injuries.
Baraka went to RWJ University Hospital to meet with families involved in the crash and said a total of 36 people were transported to area hospitals, including 17 children. All were listed in stable condition.
"Obviously people are shaken up, you had children involved," he said. "People are concerned about the well-being of their children, they want to go home and not be at a hospital all night. For the most part, people are in good spirits."
New Jersey State Police closed both local and express lanes of the turnpike for about an hour to deal with those injured and clear the road to resume traffic.
