MERRIMAC — A Hudson , N.H. man was seriously injured after an accident on 495 North yesterday morning around 5:30 a.m. when a tractor-trailer driver veered off the road after hitting debris in the highway.
The operator, John Daly, 49, was trapped inside the truck’s cabin for 1 1/2 hours before emergency personnel could free him from the wreckage. Daly was initially transported by Merrimac EMS to Lawrence General Hospital before being transferred to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston with serious leg and head injuries. He is listed in serious condition this morning, according to a hospital spokesman.
State Police said in a statement that a preliminary investigation indicates a 2011 Freight Cascade was travelling in the center travel lane when it struck a set of dual tires that were lying in the road. The impact caused the unit to veer right across the right lane and the breakdown lane, eventually crashing into the wood line.
The right and center travel lanes were closed for approximately four hours to allow for rescue operations, investigation and clean-up of the crash. Traffic was able to flow using the left travel lane.
Trooper Michael Caranfa from the State Police Barracks in Newbury responded . He also observed that a large overhead sign was knocked down, blocking the two travel lanes. There was also a fuel leak created when the truck’s diesel tanks were ruptured.
The fuel went into the road and down an embankment. The state Department of Environmental Protection was on-scene throughout the morning and afternoon to clean up the spill.
The crash remains under investigation by Troop A of the Massachusetts State Police, State Police Collision Analysis Reconstruction Section, Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Section, and Crime Scene Services Section. State Police were assisted by Merrimac Police Department, Merrimac Fire and EMS.
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