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December 28, 2006
Woonsocket residents hurt in Mass. collision
The police said today that excessive speed may have been a factor in a serious head-on crash yesterday afternoon in Bellingham, Mass.
A motorist heading west on Paine Street behind a Jaguar sedan at 4 p.m. told the police the Jaguar was “operating in the westbound lane at an extremely high rate of speed,” Bellingham Police Lt. Kevin Ranieri said today.
The speed limit on that stretch of road is 25 mph, Ranieri said.
The witness lost sight of the Jaguar as it drove up a hill and into what Ranieri described as a “blind corner.” Then, as the driver behind the Jaguar came around the corner, that driver saw that the sedan had collided head-on with a Toyota Corolla, Ranieri said.
Two Woonsocket residents in the Toyota were taken by helicopter to UMass Memorial Medical Center’s university campus in Worcester, Mass., according to the police and the helicopters that transported them. A hospital spokeswoman who did not give her name said today that it has been requested that no information be released about the patients' status.
Ranieri said those two Woonsocket residents -- the driver of the Toyota and her back-seat passenger -- were the most badly injured. The Toyota driver was identified as Bethzaida Grajales, 22, of 139 E. School St. The rear passenger was Beatrice Gonzalez, 44, of the same address.
Grajales was trapped in her seat, and rescue crews needed to use the "Jaws of Life" to extricate her, Ranieri said. Gonzalez was thrown and had gotten wedged under the front seat, Ranieri said. She suffered head injuries, he said.
The driver of the Jaguar was treated and released from Rhode Island Hospital, spokeswoman Nancy Cawley said. The police identified him as Pundy Kim Khath, 27, of 55 Huntington St. in Lowell, Mass.
The front-seat passenger in the Toyota was treated and released from Landmark Medical Center in Woonsocket, according to spokeswoman Addie Piette. The police identified him as William Louberil-Vasquez, of 139 E. School St. in Woonsocket. His age was unavailable, Ranieri said.
No one involved in the crash was wearing a seatbelt, Ranieri said.
A police reconstruction team continues to investigate the accident. No charges have been filed at this time, Ranieri said.
Posted by Kate Bramson
at 1:16 PM | Permalink
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