Multi-vehicle accident slows Garden State Parkway afternoon commute

A serious accident at the start of the Wednesday afternoon commute caused miles-long backups on the southbound Garden State Parkway.

State Police spokesman Trooper Lawrence Peele said an accident involving several vehicles at milepost 96.3 on the border of  Monmouth and Ocean counties closed the road for a time as a medical helicopter landed to take one person pinned underneath a flatbed truck to Jersey Shore Medical Center. Police said that person is in critical condition.

Two other people suffered back and leg injuries and were hospitalized via ambulance.

An investigation is just getting underway and police did not know the number of vehicles involved in the accident or a cause.