NORTHBORO, MASS. (WHDH) - A dangerous crash killed a driver going the wrong way and left two vehicles engulfed in flames in Northboro Wednesday night.
Northboro police confirmed they received multiple 911 calls reporting a serious crash on I-290 eastbound.
“Initial reports indicated a head-on collision involving a wrong-way driver, with at least one vehicle on fire,” police said. “At the time of the call, all on-duty NFD resources were committed to two overlapping emergency medical incidents. Recognizing the severity of the reported crash, the Shift Captain immediately requested mutual aid fire, rescue, and ambulance resources from the Berlin, Marlborough, and Westborough Fire Departments.”
When officials arrived, they found a Subaru and a Jeep, both of which had sustained severe front-end damage. Both cars were “fully involved” in fire; one was on its side.
“Firefighters immediately initiated fire suppression operations while simultaneously searching the vehicles for occupants,” officials said. “The driver and sole occupant of one of the vehicles escaped prior to the arrival of emergency personnel. That individual was transported by NFD ambulance to UMass Memorial Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries.”
The driver, the sole occupant of the second vehicle, which was the car driving the wrong way, could not be rescued and was pronounced dead on the scene.
“Following completion of the on-scene investigation, Northboro firefighters spent nearly one hour utilizing hydraulic rescue tools to extricate the deceased victim from the vehicle,” authorities said. “The victim was subsequently removed and transported by the Massachusetts Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.”
The state has seen an alarming number of wrong-way crashes in recent months, including one that killed state trooper Kevin Trainor, who died in a crash last month while stopping a driver on Route 1.
Also last month, a state police cruiser was hit by a wrong-way driver on Route 1 in Peabody.
On Sunday, police in Milbury said a driver on the wrong side of the road died while fleeing a traffic stop. That driver crashed into another car, injuring the driver.
MassDOT announced a new, $75 million initiative to try to stop these deadly car wrecks, including through the use of increased signage, safety upgrades, and advanced detection technology across 500 high-rise areas.
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