Driver who escaped fiery crash hit and killed by car on Route 3 in Massachusetts, police say
BILLERICA - A driver who initially escaped a fiery crash on Route 3 north in Massachusetts was then struck and killed by another car on the highway early Monday morning, police said.
Massachusetts State Police said that shortly after midnight, they responded to a report of a car fire with possible entrapment just before Treble Cove Road. Troopers did not discover anyone trapped inside the car, but they did find a seriously injured pedestrian who was later pronounced dead at the scene.
"The preliminary investigation indicates that a Honda Accord crashed and caught fire," State Police said in a statement. "After the operator exited the vehicle, a Mercedes struck them in the left travel lane."
The person who died has not been publicly identified yet as police notify family members.
Route 3 north closed for hours in Billerica
Billerica police diverted traffic away from the crash and Route 3 was closed until 4 a.m. WBZ-TV saw multiple emergency vehicles near a damaged guardrail at the scene, a crashed car on the side of the road, and a long traffic backup.
State Police Crime Scene Services and the Collision Analysis Reconstruction team responded to the crash, as did Billerica firefighters to put out the flames.
Earlier this year, the speed limit on Route 3 between I-95 and the New Hampshire border was raised 10 mph, from 55 mph to 65 mph. Previously, Route 3 was the only three-lane highway in the state that did not have a 65 mph speed limit.
Police have not yet said what caused the crash.