For the police officer, the man’s body language was the giveaway. His combative stance and his abrupt hand movement hinted at the possibility of danger.Two people were killed and two others were seriously injured in a fiery six-vehicle wreck Tuesday morning in New Haven, police said.
Three cars, two sport utility vehicles and a tractor-trailer rig were involved in the crash at U.S. 30 and Doyle Road, said officer Scott Adam, a New Haven police spokesman.
At 10:48 a.m., police officers and firefighters were sent to the intersection, east of Interstate 469. Police were first to arrive, and in a ditch, they found an overturned car engulfed in flames, Adam said.
Firefighters showed up a minute or two later and quickly extinguished the car fire, but the person inside died, Adam said.
With five other heavily damaged vehicles scattered around the intersection, emergency workers triaged patients, loading them into four ambulances.
A total of seven people were hospitalized. Two of those seven were in serious condition. A person in an SUV was the second fatality at the scene, Adam said.
None of the motorists was identified. Adam did not believe any were children.
When the crash occurred, the six vehicles were in the westbound lanes of U.S. 30, which has four lanes at Doyle Road, including a lane to turn south and one to turn north.
Adam declined to comment on the cause of the wreck, which is under investigation. Weather conditions were clear and dry.
“There’s so much damage and debris and a lot of witness statements, a lot of stuff to put together,” he said. “It’s a mess.”
Adam said some witnesses reported that westbound traffic had a red light at the time of the crash, while others said the light had just turned green.
Westbound U.S. 30 was closed at Webster Road until 6:30 p.m. when crews finished clearing the scene.
