Investigators trying to determine why a box truck rear-ended a dump truck, causing deadly crash and traffic jam.
OLD BRIDGE -- One person was killed and two were injured in a crash that tied up Route 9 northbound for more than four hours Friday morning, authorities said.
Mayor Owen Henry said the passenger in a small box truck was killed when the truck struck the rear of a dump truck on the highway north of Old Mill Road shortly before 7 a.m.
Middlesex County Prosecutor Andrew Carey identified the dead passenger as Adam Rarela, 18, of Marlboro Township.
Carey said no charges have been filed in the crash.
The accident was just south of where Route 9 merges with Route 34.
Henry said the drivers of both trucks were taken to hospitals with non-life threatening injuries.
Authorities are still trying to determine what caused the crash, the mayor said.
Two of the highway's three lanes were closed during the peak commuter rush hours, backing up traffic for more than seven miles, authorities said.
Henry said the highway wasn't fully open to traffic until about 11:30 a.m.
Old Bridge police issued an alert about 8 a.m. to avoid the highway and NJ Transit also put out alerts that its buses would be late due to the accident.
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