Tracy Morgan Crash: Trucker Is Charged

US actor and comedian Tracy Morgan has been left in a critical condition after the chauffeured SUV he was travelling in overturned during a multi-vehicle pile-up.

Police said the limousine bus crashed into five other vehicles on the New Jersey Turnpike at around 1am local time.

The 45-year-old 30 Rock star is being treated at the Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Centre in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

Sgt Gregory Williams told Sky News that James McNair, 62, of Peekskill, New York, a passenger in the limo, died at the scene.

Another passenger, comedian Ardie Fuqua Jr, was also in critical condition, while a fifth passenger, comic Harris Stanton, was treated and released.

A truck driver has been charged with death by auto in connection to the crash, prosecutors said.

Middlesex County prosecutors said 35-year-old Kevin Roper, of Jonesboro, Georgia, also faces four counts of "assault by auto" stemming from the crash.

His bail was set at $50,000.

Morgan was returning from a stand-up comedy show in Delaware when his Mercedes limo bus carrying seven people overturned on the New Jersey Turnpike near Cranbury Township at about 1am.

He remains in the intensive care unit at the hospital.

"His family is now with him and he is receiving excellent care," spokesman Lewis Kay said in a statement.

"We don't anticipate much of a change in his condition today but will provide a further update once more information becomes available."

Williams said the tractor-trailer driver apparently failed to notice slow traffic ahead and swerved at the last minute in a vain attempt to avoid a crash.

But the tractor-trailer smashed into the back of the limo, prompting a chain-reaction crash with a second tractor-trailer, an SUV and two cars.

Morgan's limo 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 said.

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

Tracy Morgan found fame on the sketch-comedy show Saturday Night Live in 1996.

He went on to play Tracy Jordan, a caricature of himself, on the hit show 30 Rock.

It was created by his Saturday Night Live co-star Tina Fey.