Audio recordings of emergency calls made by witnesses of the multiple-vehicle collision on a New Jersey highway involving the limousine bus of "30 Rock" star Tracy Morgan's group have been released on Tuesday. The recordings were released by the New Jersey State Police, Reuters said.
One unidentified woman told the 911 emergency operator just moments after the crash that happened early on Saturday, "There's a terrible accident. The car flipped. It's on its side."
Another caller told the operator, There was an accident on the New Jersey Turnpike. It happened behind us."
The vehicular collision landed Morgan and several others critically injured at the Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Center in New Brunswick, New Jersey. A hospital spokeswoman said that Morgan and two others remained in the facility's critical-care unit. Morgan's writing partner and mentor who was also in the actor's vehicle, comedian James "Jimmy Mack" McNair, had died at the scene. A fifth passenger reportedly received light injuries and has been discharged from the hospital after receiving treatment.
In a statement on Monday, the "Saturday Night Live" alum's spokesman, Lewis Kay, said that his client received injuries including a broken leg, nose and ribs. Morgan also underwent emergency surgery of the weekend, and in the same line of thought, dismissed rumors about the actor requiring leg amputation.
Meanwhile, 35 year-old Wal-Mart truck driver, Kevin Roper, have been charged with vehicular homicide and injury by auto for operating his commercial vehicle. Prosecutors said Roper had not had any sleep for over 24 hours, which resulted in the accident. He is expected to make an appearance on Wednesday in Middlesex County Superior Court.
In a response to Roper's lack of sleep and the issue of truck drivers' seemingly long work hours on the road, Wal-Mart Stores Inc said on Tuesday that its 7,175 drivers have meet some of the highest safety standards in the industry.
