Comedian Tracy Morgan critically injured in six-car crash

• Comedian involved in New Jersey Turnpike accident
• Spokesman: ‘His family is with him’
• Comedian Jimmy Mack killed; two men in critical condition
• A man has been charged in connection with the incident

By Lauren Gambino in New York and agencies

The actor and comedian Tracy Morgan is in critical condition after the vehicle he was riding in crashed on the New Jersey turnpike early on Saturday morning, state police said. One person died in the accident and a man has been charged.

A “chauffeured SUV” carrying the former Saturday Night Live and 30 Rock cast member and six other people was involved in a six-vehicle crash at around 1am, sergeant first class Greg Williams told the Associated Press.

A tractor-trailer hit Morgan’s vehicle, setting off a chain-reaction crash.

James McNair, 63, of Peekskill, New York – a comedian known as Jimmy Mack who was a passenger in the SUV – was named as the person who died.

Morgan and two other passengers, the comedian Ardie Fuqua Jr and Jeffrey Millea, Morgan’s assistant, were flown from the scene and were in critical condition at Robert Wood Johnson Hospital in New Brunswick, hospital spokesman Peter Haigney said.

A fifth passenger, comedian Harris Stanton, was treated and released.

Morgan’s publicist, Lewis Kay, released a statement which said: “Tracy remains in critical condition at Robert Wood Johnson Hospital.

“He sustained these injuries in an accident that occurred early this morning as one of several passengers in a chauffeured SUV returning from a tour date in Delaware.

“His family is now with him and he is receiving excellent care. We don’t anticipate much of a change in his condition today but will provide a further update once more information becomes available.”

The accident also involved another tractor-trailer, an SUV and two cars. The driver of Morgan’s vehicle was one of two in the limousine to escape unhurt.

Sergeant Williams said the tractor-trailer driver apparently failed to notice slow traffic ahead and swerved at the last minute, in an attempt to avoid hitting Morgan’s vehicle. It smashed into the back of the limousine bus, prompting the chain-reaction crash.

The Turnpike was closed, and reopened at 6.30am.

The crash occurred around 1 am local time on Saturday near Cranbury Township when a tractor-trailer crashed into the back of Morgan’s limo bus, New Jersey state police spokesman Gregory Williams said, based on findings of a preliminary investigation.

The driver of the truck, 35-year-old Kevin Roper, was charged with one count of death by auto and four counts of assault by auto, the Middlesex county prosecutor’s Office said later.

The National Transportation Safety Board said it was working with state police to look at any issues in the crash related to commercial trucking and limousine safety.

Morgan’s vehicle was owned by Atlantic Transportation Services, which said it had one employee behind the wheel and a second in the front passenger seat.

“Although the investigation is still pending, we concur with the preliminary reports that the accident was caused by another vehicle traveling behind the Atlantic limo bus,” the Rehoboth Beach, Delaware-based company told the AP.

“We are grateful that our drivers did not sustain life-threatening injuries.”

A hotel spokeswoman confirmed to the Guardian that Morgan performed on Friday night at Dover Downs Hotel and Casino in Delaware. His scheduled appearance at the Fillmore Charlotte in North Carolina on Saturday night was canceled.

Fuqua had tweeted that he was opening for Morgan on Friday. On his Instagram page, he included a collage of photos from the Delaware show.

“This is what it looks like from the stage to see a standing ovation from 1500 people,” Fuqua wrote at around midnight on Friday. “Then we traveled back to NYC in style in a luxury Mercedes Sprinter. Road life is a good life!”

Celebrities posted messages of support on Twitter on Saturday. “Stay strong Tracy Morgan,” the hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons wrote. “We love you.”

The musician Questlove said: “Strength & Speedy Recovery to @RealTracyMorgan who survived a massive car crash this morn.”

Known for his larger-than-life personality, Morgan was a cast member on Saturday Night Live between 1996 and 2003, playing such memorable characters as nature host Brian Fellows and moonshiner Uncle Jemima. He left to star in The Tracy Morgan Show, a sitcom about an American dad that was cancelled before the end of its first season.

Between 2006 and 2013, Morgan played the dim-witted but loveable Tracy Jordan on NBC’s hit show 30 Rock, a role fellow SNL cast member and series creator Tina Fey said she wrote just for him. The character drew heavily from Morgan’s own life.

His films include Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, The Longest Yard, First Sunday, Rio and Why Stop Now.

One of five children, Morgan was born in the Bronx, New York City’s northernmost borough, and raised by his mother in a housing project in Brooklyn.

“I was like any other inner-city kid with a chip on his shoulder because his daddy and his mommy wasn’t together,” Morgan told NPR’s Terry Gross in 2009.

Morgan’s father was a Vietnam war veteran who suffered from heroin addiction, according to NPR. Morgan said his father’s death from Aids made him turn to crack dealing, and that the murder of his best friend pushed him into comedy.

“He would say to me, ‘Yo, Tracy, man, you should be doing comedy,’ ” Morgan told NPR. “A week later, he was murdered. And that for me, that was like my Vietnam. I had my survival guilt when I started to achieve success. Why I made it out and some guys didn’t.”

Morgan sparked controversy in 2011 when he made a homophobic joke in a stand up routine in Nashville, Tennessee. He later apologized.

He said in his apology: “While I am an equal opportunity jokester, and my friends know what is in my heart, even in a comedy club this clearly went too far and was not funny in any context.”

In 2010, Morgan received a kidney transplant. In 1996, he was diagnosed with diabetes. Guardian