A mentally distressed man who jumped off of a Newark bridge and onto a busy NJ highway is fighting for his life in a hospital this evening.
Passerbys traveling on Osborne Terrace in the city’s South Ward watched in horror after a man climbed to the top of the fenced portion of the bridge then fell more than 20 feet onto the eastbound lanes of I-78just before 8 p.m.
The incident reportedly caused a multi-vehicle crash but there were no serious injuries reported to drivers and/or passengers according to preliminary reports.
EMS rushed the man to University Hospital -where we could only confirm critical injuries as of 9:03 p.m.- after the unidentified man suffered a massive head injury.
Witnesses say when the man climbed the bridge, he was already bleeding after suffering some type of laceration on his neck.
**NJSP UPDATED 10:29pm:** Unidentified male jjumped from Osborne Terrace in Newark onto 78 eastbound express lanes. He sustained serious injuries and was taken to University Hospital. No vehicles struck the male. 78 Eastbound express lanes at mile marker 55.6 is shutdown. Traffic is diverted to local lanes. This was reported at 7:47pm state police said.
Police are actively investigating.