Two women died in a crash involving two cars and a tractor-trailer that shut down Interstate 95 North in East Lyme on Monday morning.
Katerina Barret, 28, of Greenville, South Carolina, the driver in one car, and Marie L. Graves, 69, of Providence, Rhode Island, a passenger in another car, were both killed in the crash.
Kenneth Graves, 72, of Providence, Rhode Island, who was driving the car Marie was in, sustained minor injuries.
The tractor-trailer driver Bekzhan Turumkulov, 27, of Chicago, Illinois, wasn't injured.
State police responded to the crash near exit 72 on the northbound side of of I-95 around 4:28 a.m. on Monday after receiving several 911 calls reporting an accident with injuries.
Barrett hit the side of the Mato Equipment Leasing tractor-trailer Turumkulov was operating in the right lane as she was passing the truck while driving in the left lane, state police said. She veered to the left and hit the Jersey barrier median, re-entering the roadway and hitting the center of the passenger side of the car the Graves family was in, according to state police.
Barrett was thrown from her car and the Graves' car "came to an uncontrolled final rest in the right shoulder," state police said.
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The two drivers were taken to Lawrence and Memorial Hospital to be treated for serious injuries. raves was pronounced dead at the scene and Barrett died at the hospital.
The tractor-trailer driver wasn't harmed.
The highway was shut down on the northbound side for several hours as state police investigated, but it has since reopened.
Troop E and F state police, East Lyme police, Flanders and Niantic firefighters and Lawrence and Memorial Paramedics also respondded. The Connecticut State Police Collission Analysis Reconsruction Squad (CARS), Department of Transportation and Office of the Chief Medical Examiner also responded.
State police ask anyone who witnessed the crash to call TFC Daniel Hoffner at 860-848-6500.
