Three people — including two teenagers — are in critical condition following a car crash on Route 128 in Gloucester early Monday morning, according to the city’s fire department.
Gloucester police and firefighters and Massachusetts State Police responded to the crash on the highway bridge over the Annisquam River for a report of a head-on, rollover car crash around 1:45 a.m., the fire department said in a press release. At the scene, they found that two cars had collided on the bridge, one of which had rolled onto its roof.
Two people were trapped in the cars and had to be freed by firefighters, the fire department said. One of those people — an 18-year-old man — was flown to a Boston hospital in critical condition.
Three other people involved in the crash were taken to Beverly Hospital, the fire department said. One of them — a 19-year-old woman — was later transferred to Tufts Medical Center in critical condition.
Another — a man in his 80s — was later transferred to Lahey Hospital in Burlington in critical condition, the fire department said. A different 19-year-old woman who was involved in the crash was treated at Beverly Hospital and released.
A fifth person who was injured in the crash — an 18-year-old man — was privately transported to Addison Gilbert Hospital in Gloucester, the fire department said. His condition is unknown.
The preliminary investigation into the crash indicates that one of the cars was driving north in the southbound lane of Route 128 when the cars collided, Massachusetts State Police said in an email. The drivers were among those injured in the crash.
“This hits especially close to home, as several of those involved are not only from Gloucester, but are young members of our community,” Gloucester Mayor Greg Verga said in the release. “We are a city that cares deeply — we’re all holding those impacted in our hearts right now.”
State Police are still investigating the crash and did not provide any further information.
