EAST BRUNSWICK, N.J. – Officials say a school bus taking families home from a picnic crashed on the New Jersey Turnpike, sending dozens of people to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka says the bus was returning to Newark from his annual Mayor’s Family Reunion/Picnic at Black Bear Lake Country Club in Millstone when the accident happened around 5:25 p.m. Saturday in East Brunswick.
Baraka said at a Saturday night news conference that early reports that the accident was caused by a hit and run involving a car were incorrect. He says the accident is under investigation.
The mayor said 36 people were injured in the crash, including 17 people under 18 years old. The injured were sent to three hospitals; none sustained life-threatening injuries.
The crash, which caused the bus to overturn, happened in the turnpike’s northbound lanes.