Two NJ Transit buses collided in the north tube of the Lincoln Tunnel Friday morning, injuring at least 32 people, the agency and the FDNY said.
Both buses were traveling toward Manhattan when one of them, carrying 37 customers, rear-ended the other, which had 25 customers, at about 10 a.m., an NJ Transit spokeswoman said.
“What we have, preliminarily, is a rear-end of a bus to another bus,” Raymond Bryant, deputy chief of Port Authority police, said at an afternoon news conference. “At that point we’re conducting an investigation, reviewing videotape and then we’ll be able to summarize what happened.”
The crash happened near the end of the tunnel, and the buses continued to move out of the tunnel before first responders arrived on the scene, FDNY Chief Edward Baggott said.
Eight people with serious, but not life-threatening injuries were taken to Lenox Hill Hospital and 23 people with minor injuries were taken to NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue, fire officials said. One person refused medical attention at the scene.
Both drivers were among those taken to the hospital, Port Authority police said.
It was not immediately clear how fast the buses were traveling. There was minor damage to both vehicles, Bryant said, and the investigation is ongoing.
Mayor Bill de Blasio, speaking at an unrelated news conference on Staten Island, said “thank God” that there was “no one who appears to be in a life-threatening situation.”
“Obviously, I’m hoping and praying for the best for anyone who was injured in that incident,” de Blasio said.
With Matt Chayes
