Three people were hurt, two seriously, when an SUV crossed the median on Interstate 495 and crashed head-on with a car going the other way Wednesday morning in Chelmsford, Massachusetts, police said.
The crash briefly shut both sides of the highway and required a medical helicopter to fly one of the drivers to the hospital, Massachusetts State Police said.
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The crash occurred around 9:47 a.m. on the northbound side of the highway before Exit 87, according to the Massachusetts Department of Transportation. I-495 north was closed at Exit 83, and the southbound side of the interstate was temporarily closed at Exit 88. By around 12:45 p.m., all lanes were reopened in both directions.
The SUV, a Volkswagon Taos, crossed from the southbound side of the highway to the northbound side, hitting the BMW, police said, noting Wednesday afternoon that they were still investigating what happened.
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The crash left the BMW's driver, a 75-year-old man from Ayer, trapped inside — he was flown to Lahey Hospital in Burlington after firefighters cut the roof off the vehicle, according to police. The passenger of the car, a 75-year-old Ayer woman, was taken to a hospital by ambulance. The driver of the SUV, a 65-year-old woman from Newburyport, was seriously hurt and taken to the hospital by ambulance as well.
Aerial footage of the scene showed a white car with major damage, with emergency crews and debris scattered around the road.