LEOMINSTER, MASS. (WHDH) - Police are investigating the cause of a single-car crash that resulted in the death of a 16-year-old Ayer girl and seriously injured three other teens.
The others in the car were a 16-year-old girl from Shirley and two teenage boys, an 18-year-old from Shirley, who’s believed to have been the driver, and an 18-year-old from Bolton.
The crash happened shortly after 7 p.m. Thursday night on Rte. 190 North in Leominster.
A preliminary investigation suggests that the Ayer girl who died was a passenger in the 2001 Ford Mustang that went off the highway, down an embankment and into the woods. The Mustang was traveling north in the right lane. As it approached other cars ahead of it in the right lane, the driver moved into the left lane and lost control of the car. It spun as it went off the right side of the road.
Leominster Firefighters extricated three of the victims who were trapped in or under the car.
Although the cause of the crash is still under investigation, a State Police spokesperson said excessive speed could have been a factor.
Superintendent of Ayer Shirley Regional School District Adam Renda confirmed that the girl who died was a junior at the school.
Renda suggested that parents talk to their children about the sudden death because it “can have a profound impact on children,” he said in a letter to families. He added that additional school counselors, social workers and psychologists will be available to students who may need support during this time. He advised families to call their child’s school to get that support for their children.
A GoFundMe campaign has been posted for the victim.
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