Lincoln Tunnel accident snarls morning commute

A chain-reaction wreck involving a motorcycle and three buses in the Lincoln Tunnel injured 53 people and snarled the Thursday morning commute.

The motorcyclist was critically injured when he was sandwiched between two of the buses, an NYPD source said.

The wreck happened in the Manhattan-bound lanes of the tunnel’s center tube shortly before 7:30 a.m., a Port Authority spokeswoman said.

The motorcyclist was riding between two of the buses, the NYPD source said. When the first bus stopped for traffic, the second bus slammed the motorcyclist from behind, pinning him against the first bus, the source said.

The motorcyclist was rushed by ambulance to Bellevue Hospital, an FDNY official said. He suffered a broken leg and a broken shoulder and had to be intubated at the hospital, another FDNY source said. He was not immediately identified.

A total of 52 passengers on the buses were injured, FDNY officials said. Most of the injuries were minor, but 13 of the passengers suffered more serious injuries and were taken to Roosevelt Hospital, the FDNY officials said.

The Lincoln Tunnel normally operates with four Manhattan-bound lanes during the morning rush hour. The crash led to the closure of two of those lanes.

The accident happened near the Manhattan side of the tunnel. Many of the vehicles that were stranded in the tunnel closer to the New Jersey side were backed out of the tube with the help of police, the Port Authority spokeswoman said.

But unlucky motorists who were just behind the wreck were stranded for more than three hours as authorities investigated the crash.

Those vehicles were in the process of being released from the tunnel shortly before 11 a.m., the Port Authority spokeswoman said.

Two of the buses involved in the crash were New Jersey Transit buses. The authority’s website said bus service into the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Manhattan was delayed by as much as 45 minutes because of the accident.

With Joe Jackson

jlauinger@nydailynews.com