State Police Investigate Tanker Rollover Route 95 Newburyport

Today at 9:17 a.m., Troopers from the State Police Barracks in Newbury responded to a four-vehicle crash on Route 95 northbound in Newburyport north of Route 113. Preliminary investigation by Trooper David Martinelle indicates that a 2001 Ford Expedition in the left lane operated by 32-year-old Salma Aguilar of Everett collided with a 2005 Freightliner tanker in the adjacent lane operated by 52-year-old Donald Branham of New Hampshire. The tanker, owned by Aranco Oil, of Concord, N.H., was loaded with 10,000 gallons of gasoline.

The collision caused the tanker to brake and slide on its side, blocking all lanes of traffic and causing two other vehicles to become involved in the crash: a 2007 Honda Odyssey operated by 44-year-old Molly Morin of Hamilton and a Toyota Corolla operated by 29-year-old Marianne Curcio of Newburyport.

There were seven people in the Expedition, two in the Odyssey and one in the Corolla. All were transported to area hospitals. Branham, the driver of the tanker, was not injured. An man from Everett who is as yet unidentified and a 14-year-old Chelsea girl, both of whom were in the Expedition, suffered serious injuries and were transported by ambulance to Anna Jacques Hospital in Newburyport, and from there, by medical helicopter, to Massachusetts General Hospital.

Aguilar, the driver of the Expedition, and her 14-year-old male passenger from Chelsea, along with Curcio, the Corolla's driver, were transported to Anna Jaques Hospital. Morin, the driver of the Odyssey, and her 10-year-old female passenger from Hamilton, along with a nine-year-old girl from Everett who was in the Expedition, were all transported to Portsmouth Hospital in New Hampshire.

Thirty-four-year-old Omar Guerrero from Chelsea was transported to Exeter Hospital and an adult woman, whose name is being withheld because police had not been able to confirm her age and hometown, were transported to Merrimac Valley Hospital. Both were passengers in the Expedition.

Some fuel spilled into the Merrimac River and is being tended to by the Coast Guard, Salisbury Fire Department and Clean Harbors. The State Police Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Section is working in conjunction with state and local Hazmat teams. The Newburyport fire chief, the incident commander, and called for evacuation of the nearby Laurel Street neighborhood.

Route 95 was shutdown in both directions, northbound at Scotland Road and southbound at Route 495, for several hours. Southbound lanes were shut down for approximately six hours with back ups to the New Hampshire rest areas, and reopened at 3:25 p.m. Two lanes opened northbound after approximately seven hours with back ups to Newbury.

This remains an active investigation with assistance from State Police Collision Accident and Reconstruction Section and Crime Scene Services. Assistance was also provided by Fire Departments from North Andover, Hampton, Groveland, Merrimac and Pease as well as Police and Fire from Newbury, Newburyport, Salisbury and Amesbury . New Hampshire State Police provided Troopers to assist with the southbound road closure. Mass Highways is also on scene.

No further information is available. Please do not call the Barracks directly.