Two Men Hurt By Live Wire On Parkway In Middletown: Cops (UPDATE)

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — Two linemen were hurt by a live wire while working on the Garden State Parkway/Exit 109 in the Middletown area Monday morning, New Jersey State Police confirmed to Patch. However, both men were conscious and in stable condition when they were taken by ambulance to Jersey Shore Medical Center.

Two men were injured while working on the wires on the Parkway, said Sgt. Lawrence Peele of the New Jersey State Police. This was an elevated line in the air, but he did not know if they fell from any height. Emergency 911 calls were made about two linemen reportedly electrocuted; they received CPR from state troopers on the roadway, a Middletown EMT told Patch.

The men were conscious and in stable condition when they were taken away by ambulance, Peele said.

The accident happened shortly before 11:30 a.m. Monday, May 20.

Wires were down on the roadway and the Parkway was closed in that area for just under an hour. However, as of 12:30 p.m. Monday, the Parkway is back open.

The two men were not employees of Jersey Central Power & Light, said Jennifer Young, a spokeswoman for JCP&L/First Energy. Although JCP&L supplies the power in that area, these men worked for a contractor hired by the state of New Jersey for the road-widening project at Exit 109. The men came in contact with a live power line while it was in the air, said Young.

There is an extensive roadwork project being done at Exit 109 off the Parkway to reconfigure the entire exit. Earle Asphalt is the contractor and the two men injured are employees of a subcontractor hired by Earle, said a spokesman for the New Jersey Turnpike Authority, which maintains the Parkway. He did not know their names or medical status as of Monday night.

The work at Exit 109 began last summer: Major Changes Coming To Exit 109 Off Garden State Parkway