Comedian and star of the hit show “30 Rock”, Tracy Morgan, is in intensive care following a serious crash on the New Jersey Turnpike north of Trenton, state police confirm.
The comedian’s tour bus was one of the six vehicles impacted when the driver of a tractor-trailer came upon slow-moving traffic in the northbound lanes at Exit 7A near Cranbury Township and was unable to stop in time, state police told Philadelphia’s NBC10.
Morgan, 45, was taken to Robert Wood Johnson Medical Center in New Brunswick, as confirmed by a hospital spokesperson.
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James McNair, of Peekskill, N.Y., a passenger on Morgan’s bus, died in the crash, Sgt. 1st Class Greg Williams told the Associated Press. In addition to Morgan, two other passengers were in critical condition, and one was listed as fair, he said. Two occupants weren’t injured.
Police say one of the passengers from his bus died; three others were critically injured and one is listed as being in fair condition.
Morgan did a stand-up comedy gig Friday night at Dover Downs Hotel & Casino in Delaware and presumably was on his way back to his home in Bergen County, N.J. His scheduled appearance at the Fillmore Charlotte in North Carolina on Saturday night has been canceled.
Accident investigation and cleanup kept that section of the road closed until 6:30 a.m.
Morgan grew up fatherless, one of five siblings, in a blighted section of Brooklyn, where he helped raise and support the family.
He once called his gift for being funny “a defense mechanism” for his miserable circumstances.
As a teen he started doing comedy on the streets to supplement the family’s welfare income.
In late 2010, Morgan had a kidney transplant.
Morgan and his fiancee, Megan Wolover, welcomed their first child in July.