BILLERICA, Mass. (AP) — The Latest on a vehicle that sped through an indoor auto
BILLERICA, Mass. (AP) — The Latest on a vehicle that sped through an indoor auto auction in Massachusetts (all times local) :
6: 20 p.m.
A family member has identified one of at least three people killed in a crash at an indoor auto auction in Massachusetts that left nine others injured.
Orlando Aponte says it was his sister Leezandra Aponte’s first day working at LynnWay Auto Auction in Billerica (bihl-RIH’-kuh) on Wednesday when a driver crashed through a wall, striking bystanders. He says she was in her 30s, lived in Lowell and had three children.
Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan says a man in his 70s was driving the 2006 Jeep Grand Cherokee. He wasn’t hospitalized.
Prosecutors say a preliminary investigation suggests it was “a tragic accident.”
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1: 30 p.m.
Investigators say a man in his 70s was driving the SUV that killed at least three people and injured nine others when it sped through a crowded indoor auto auction in Massachusetts.
Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan says the driver was an employee of the LynnWay Auto Auction in Billerica (bihl-RIHK’-uh) , about 20 miles (32 kilometers) northwest of Boston.
Ryan says the driver of the 2006 Jeep Grand Cherokee was not hospitalized.
Ryan says two people suffered life-threatening injuries in Wednesday morning’s crash.
She says a preliminary investigation suggests it was “a tragic accident.”
The SUV crashed through a wall after striking bystanders inside the building.
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This story has been corrected to show that authorities say the driver was not hospitalized, not that it was unclear whether he was hospitalized, and that the vehicle was a 2006 Jeep Grand Cherokee, not a 2006 Jeep Cherokee.
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1: 10 p.m.
Authorities say three people have been killed in a crash at an indoor auto auction in Massachusetts and nine others have been injured.
Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan says the dead were one man and two women. She says two of the nine who were taken to hospitals suffered life-threatening injuries.
Massachusetts State Police say there is no evidence that Wednesday morning’s crash inside the LynnWay Auto Auction in Billerica (bill-RICK’-uh) was intentional.
Ryan says investigators are working to reconstruct the accident.
Billerica (bihl-RIHK’-uh) is about 20 miles (32 kilometers) northwest of Boston.
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12: 10 p.m.
Massachusetts State Police confirm there are fatalities in the auto auction crash north of Boston, and they say there is no evidence the crash was intentional.
The state police statement doesn’t say how many were killed or injured in Wednesday’s crash inside the LynnWay Auto Auction in Billerica (bill-RICK’-uh) , about 20 miles (32 kilometers) northwest of Boston.
Lahey Hospital and Medical Center says it is treating six injured people, and Lowell General Hospital says it has three others.
Witnesses say cars were lined up on the auction block when one vehicle suddenly accelerated. That vehicle struck several people inside before crashing through a wall.
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11: 50 a.m.
A vehicle has crashed through a Massachusetts auto auction building, and medics are wheeling people out on gurneys.
The crash occurred Wednesday morning at LynnWay Auto Auction in Billerica (bill-RICK’-uh) , about 20 miles (32 kilometers) northwest of Boston.
A witness tells WCVB-TV that cars were lined up on the auction block when one vehicle suddenly accelerated.
Employee Woody Tuttle says he heard tires screeching and saw the vehicle strike several people.
Tuttle told the station: ” (The driver) avoided the cars and went on to hit the people who were standing between the cars.”
Images from TV helicopters show a vehicle covered in debris that appears to have crashed through an exterior wall from inside the building.
Several ambulances were on the scene, and medics wheeled people out of the building on gurneys.
