Plymouth high school students survive after truck crashes into water off bridge
PLYMOUTH - Two Plymouth high school students were injured after a truck crashed off a bridge in Plymouth.
"I just hope they're both doing better," said Plymouth North High School student Hunter Byron. He and other fellow students went to the scene where their friend's truck veered off the Warren Street Bridge into the Eel River below Monday night.
Witnesses said the teenage boy behind the wheel kicked out a window before he and his passenger, a teenage girl, both escaped. "They're both good kids, you know selfless kids, both responsible. I just pray that they both get better and learn from what happened," said Byron.
Police say their injuries were not life-threatening, and that the driver pulled out of the Long Beach parking lot onto Route 3A just before 9:00pm when he somehow drove off the bridge.
"Just hope everyone is alright with the severity of that crash, due to them being young, the driver and passenger, I was hoping they were alright," said tow operator Jared Johnson, who helped pull the truck out of the water.
"It was one of our top tens, I would have to say," said Johnson, who estimated the water was about 40 degrees. "Could have been a lot worse," he said.
"That was the railing," said neighbor Charles Vautrain, pointing to the damage to the bridge. "They obviously sheered it right off and broke the cement thing."
Even with pieces of the bridge's support system in the Eel River, structural engineers deemed it safe to drive on after the crash.
Locals continue to worry about the stretch of road, and how much worse the accident could have been. "People need to just slow down and drive with caution," said Johnson. "It's just a long straightaway, and if you look away for one second, you can end up in a really bad spot."
