12-Vehicle Pile-Up Kills New Jersey Couple

The 4 p.m. smash-up - two miles south of Exit 16E, where Lincoln Tunnel traffic meets the Turnpike's Eastern Spur - forced New Jersey-bound commuters onto other jammed roadways.

Two buses, nine cars and a tractor-trailer were involved in the crash in the southbound lanes, said turnpike spokesman Joe Orlando.

The victims were identified as Linda Trott, 63, the driver of the Mercedes 320, and her husband, Stanley, 67, both of Englishtown, N.J. No others were seriously hurt, Orlando said.

One of the buses involved was carrying passengers from Manhattan to Newark Airport.

Nobody on the airport bus was hurt, but police asked the company, Coach USA, to send another vehicle to pick up its passengers, said Lee Schissler, a spokesman for the firm.

The other bus involved in the crash belonged to the MTA. It was driven away under its own power, Orlando said.

The MTA uses the turnpike to run some buses between Manhattan and Staten Island.

Turnpike maintenance workers saw the crash, and will be interviewed by police, Orlando said.