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Video shows tractor-trailer, car on fire after fatal wrong-way crash on Massachusetts highway

By
Louisa Moller
Louisa Moller
Louisa Moller is a general assignment reporter for WBZ-TV.
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Louisa Moller

/ CBS Boston

Video shows the fiery scene after a wrong-way crash in Methuen, Massachusetts killed one person over the weekend. Massachusetts State Police and the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner are investigating the crash that took place on Interstate 495.

The Essex County District Attorney's office reports that an Alfa Romeo was driving northbound in southbound lane of 495 when the vehicle struck a tractor trailer. The incident took place just after 1:30 a.m. on Sunday, October 26 near the exit for Route 213 in Methuen. 

Investigators say the driver of the car, 39-year-old Kenneth Landry, from Seabrook, New Hampshire, was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the truck was uninjured.

Witness Eric Hartford drove by right after the crash and told WBZ that both vehicles were on fire. He said he was a couple miles away when he first saw a flash of light.

"I thought it was a warehouse or something that had blown up on the side of the road," Hartford said. "I could not believe what I was seeing. It was a full tractor trailer. The whole trailer was engulfed in flames." 

Hartford said he was horrified by what he saw. "Going the wrong way on the highway at 1:30 in the morning, what is going on in that car?" Hartford said. "I'm glad that I was on the other side of the highway, and I'm glad that there wasn't a lot of other cars crashed because of it."

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