Tractor-trailer strikes LIRR overpass in Center Moriches

First responders extricated and airlifted a tractor-trailer driver Tuesday who was found unconscious inside the truck after it struck an LIRR overpass and overturned in Center Moriches, authorities said.

Suffolk County police officers responded to calls of a truck striking the railroad bridge over Montauk Highway in Center Moriches near Wilcox Avenue at around 4:40 p.m. Tuesday, a department spokesperson said.

Firefighters from the Center Moriches and East Moriches fire departments extricated the unconscious driver from the westbound vehicle that had struck the bridge and tipped over into the eastbound lane, according to a post on the Center Moriches Fire Department’s official Facebook account. The bridge carries trains running on the LIRR’s Montauk Branch and crosses above a two-lane portion of Montauk Highway.

Firefighters tended to an oil spill caused by the accident. The driver was airlifted to Stony Brook University Hospital, according to the fire department.

The driver, who was not identified, sustained “non serious injuries” according to the Suffolk police spokesperson.

A portion of Montauk Highway in Center Moriches was closed for several hours while the truck was righted and the road cleared, according to the Center Moriches Fire Department.