Lincoln Tunnel Accident

MYFOXNY.COM - A motorcycle, two NJ Transit buses and a jitney were involved in an accident inside the center tube of the inbound Lincoln Tunnel at around 7:30 a.m. on Thursday.

The motorcycle driver was critically injured and was taken to Bellevue Hospital. A woman who was on a bus directly behind the accident Tweeted that the driver was pinned under one of the buses and had to be freed by rescue crews. A total of 52 bus passengers were also injured, 14 of them seriously, according to the NY Post. They were taken to Roosevelt Hospital.

Charlene Rodriguez Roberts posted a message on Fox 5's Facebook page at 10 a.m. saying, "I am on a bus along with 40 other people stuck in tunnel since 721am when the accident happened the police walked by and said they don't know when we will be able to go through the tunnel to the other side. Can they keep us here that long? ...Dont bus riders have rights like airline passengers? They wont let us off and are not providing an exit isn't this dangerous?"

Another woman e-mailed MyFoxNY.com at 10:15 a.m. saying she was concerned about her mother, who had been stuck in the tunnel on a Manhattan bound bus since the accident.

At 10:30 a.m., other people on Twitter reported that buses were finally being allowed to back all the way through the tunnel, back into New Jersey.

The center tube was reopened at about 1:40 p.m.

Twitter user @ALYNASILVA was in the bus directly behind the accident. She took photos inside the tunnel. She didn't make it home for five hours. She Tweeted "I'm finally home. I've decided to take the day off and go relax. Glad to be alive."

At the height of the tie-ups, traffic extended several miles along Route 495 and Route 3 in New Jersey.

NJ Transit Spokesperson Penny Bassett-Hackett told Good Day New York on Thursday that all buses were being diverted to Secaucus Junction where commuters could transfer to trains. Also, buses were taking passengers to Newark Penn Station and Hoboken Terminal. NJ Transit and PATH were cross-honoring passes.

NY Traffic Authority's Ines Rosales suggested motorists use the George Washington Bridge as an alternate into New York City.

The NYPD and the Port Authority Police were investigating the collision. 

• NYTrafficAuthority.com