Man taken to hospital
Accidents occur on the Northway
WILTON, N.Y. » On Thursday, for the second day in a row, an accident occurred on the Northway that involved a tractor trailer.
State police said at about 2:55 a.m. Thursday, troopers responded to a single tractor trailer crash occurred northbound on Interstate 87 in town.
The tractor trailer drove off the west side shoulder of the highway, struck a guardrail, cement barrier, and the bridge support of the Wilton-Gansevoort Road overpass, coming to rest after overturning, police said.
The operator of the vehicle — Rosaire Fleurent, 68, of Drummondville, Quebec — was removed from it by a passerby, police said. Fleurent was transported to Saratoga Hospital for possible internal injuries, police said.
Police are still investigating the crash; no tickets or charges have been lodged at this time, police said Thursday afternoon.
Around noon on Wednesday, a two-vehicle crash consisting of tractor trailers occurred in the southbound lanes near exit 13 on Interstate 87 in Malta, police said.
Police said an investigation has revealed a 1990 Ford Heavy Duty tow truck — which was towing a tractor trailer — struck the rear of a 2010 Freightliner towing a fully-loaded flatbed trailer of wood, police said.
The tow truck continued off the west shoulder of the highway and struck the guardrail and jersey barrier, police said, along with the support structure of the Route 9 overpass. The tow truck came to rest blocking the right and middle lanes of traffic. The Freightliner came to rest down the highway, disabled and blocking the right lane, police said.
Both vehicles were travelling in the right lane of the highway at time of the crash.
The probe of the crash is ongoing, and no tickets or charges have been lodged, police said.
The tow truck spilled some diesel fuel on the road, police said. The
cleanup of the accident scene lasted several hours, police said, and forced the right and center lanes to be kept closed well into Wednesday afternoon.
The driver of the Ford — Jimmy W. Barnes, 72, of Lake George — was transported to Albany Medical Center Hospital with lacerations to his head and leg, police said. A passenger in the vehicle — a 28-year-old man from Seattle — was taken to Saratoga Hospital for evaluation.
The driver of the Freightliner — a 28-year-old man from Newark, Del. — also was taken to Saratoga Hospital for evaluation.