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This NJ Transit bus was hit by one of three trucks that collided on the New Jersey Turnpike, sending 8 bus passengers to the hospital Wednesday morning.

(nj.com user supplied photo)

LINDEN — A truck driver was blamed for making an improper pass that touched off a chain reaction crash on the northbound New Jersey Turnpike outer roadway Wednesday morning involving two other tractor-trailers and an NJ Transit commuter bus that injured 10 bus commuters.

The four vehicle collision closed several lanes of the turnpike until the early afternoon, backing up northbound traffic for as much as seven miles.

The crash happened 7:49 a.m., and was cleared around 12:50 p.m., said Sgt. Jeff Flynn, a state police spokesman. The ten people injured in the accident, including two who were seriously injured, were taken to University Hospital in Newark, he said.

State Police are still on the scene of a crash between an NJ Transit bus and "multiple" tractor-trailers on Turnpike North in Linden.

The crash was caused by a tractor-trailer in the right center lane which attempted to change lanes into the left center lane, causing a chain reaction collision, Flynn said. The truck blamed for the crash struck the back side of the bus which was traveling in the High Occupancy vehicle lane, he said.



"The preliminary finding is the bus driver was not at fault," he said.



No charges have been filed against the other drivers because the crash is still under investigation," Flynn said.



"We were moving in our lane...and this thing drove in to us," said Tom Flynn of South River, a passenger on the bus.



Tom Flynn said he was sitting across the aisle from the point of impact, heard a truck hit the bus and put his head down.



"I felt glass flying over my head, there was an instant where the bus felt like it would rollover, but it didn't," he said. "The bus driver was very professional and passengers were helping the injured (people) but not moving them."



The accident happened on the turnpike near Exit 13 for the Goethals Bridge and initially closed three lanes of the outer roadway and caused back-ups to I-287, and suspension of HOV lane rules during the morning commute, according to state Department of Transportation traffic reports.



One passenger who was seriously injured had to be extricated from the bus, Sgt. Flynn said.

The crash involved a northbound 63 line bus, operating between Lakewood and Lincoln Harbor with 61 passengers on board, said Nancy Snyder, an NJ Transit spokeswoman. The remaining passengers were transferred to another bus, she said. The bus driver wasn't injured.



Tom Flynn, who was commuting to his job at NJ.com parent company Advance Digital in Jersey City, had been "rescued" by the 63 bus when the 68 line bus he was riding on broke down on the Turnpike a few miles from the location of the crash.

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Staff reporter Larry Higgs contributed to this report.

Jessica Remo may be reached at jremo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @JessicaRemoNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.