A 22-year-old woman was killed and another person seriously injured in a 2-vehicle crash on the Massachusetts Turnpike on Monday morning.
State police said the crash, between a tractor trailer and a 2009 Honda Element, occurred around 8:40 a.m. on Interstate 90 at the Warren/Brimfield town line.
The driver of the Honda, a 22-year-old woman from Taunton, was ejected from her vehicle and died at the scene. The driver of the tractor trailer, a 52-year-old woman from Warren, Rhode Island, was trapped in the tractor trailer's cab. After being extricated by firefighters, she was taken by medical helicopter to UMass Medical Center in Worcester. No names have been released.
During the initial crash response, all lanes were closed in both directions. The eastbound breakdown lane reopened around 10 a.m., and the westbound breakdown lane around 10:30. All westbound lanes reopened around 1:30 p.m., though the breakdown lane is still the only open eastbound lane.
Backups of up to 12 miles were reported. One person who got stuck in the traffic backup said cars didn't move an inch in over half an hour. She said one truck driver got out of his car and started cleaning his windows and mirrors, while another person got out of their car and took their dog for a walk in the breakdown lane.
@NECN been sitting for about 45 minutes past exit 8 headed east bound pic.twitter.com/gn4okKAyw3 — Emily B. (@EmmieBigs) March 9, 2015
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Truck driver now using this as an opportunity to clean all his windows and mirrors, might ask him to do mine #MassPike — Emily B. (@EmmieBigs) March 9, 2015
Someone now taking their dog for a walk in the breakdown lane #MassPike — Emily B. (@EmmieBigs) March 9, 2015
Preliminary investigation shows that the tractor trailer and the other vehicle made contact on the westbound side of the highway, causing severe damage to the passenger vehicle. The impact caused the tractor trailer to cross over the median into the eastbound travel lanes, where it has come to rest, blocking eastbound traffic.
The accident remains under investigation by state police.
