EDISON — A multi-vehicle car crash closed down Route 1 for several hours during Wednesday afternoon's commute and hospitalized five people, including two children.

A tractor trailer rear-ended a minivan sitting in traffic in the southbound lanes near Prince Street, just south of Route 287, around 5:30 p.m., setting off a "chain reaction crash of six other vehicles," according to Edison Police.

The truck did not stop for a red light,according to the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office.

Five of the cars involved had to be cut apart to free trapped drivers and passengers, according to police. One female involved sustained "potentially life-threatening injuries," Edison police Lt. Robert Dudash said. Most of the other injuries were cuts, scrapes, and leg, back, and shoulder pain, according to Dudash.

Andrea Boulton, spokeswoman for the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office initially told NJ.com there was one fatality from the crash. The news site said she later changed her statement to say there were no fatalities but one person was in critical but stable condition.

Edison Police said the woman was in ICU at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital.

Boulton did not yet return a message.

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No charges have been filed in the crash. Police did not disclose the identities of anyone involved or the circumstances of the crash.

EDITOR'S NOTE: This story used information from NJ.com attributed to the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office that there was a fatality. The news site later said the Prosecutor's Office changed their statement that one person was in critical but stable condition. This story was edited to reflect the updated information. Edison Police also confirmed the information.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNJ.

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