Woman injured during multi-car crash on I-495 in Tewksbury, State Police say

By Melissa M. Werthmann, Globe Correspondent

A woman is hospitalized today after a seven vehicle crash on Interstate 495 in Tewksbury left her car wedged under a tractor trailer, State Police said.

The crash happened at 6:55 a.m. on the southbound side of I-495 between exits 35 and 36 and involved six cars and a tractor trailer, said Trooper Todd Nolan, a State Police spokesman.

He said that one vehicle was stuck underneath the tractor trailer unit and it took nearly an hour to free the driver.

Officials requested a Medflight but weather conditions were “not optimal” for such a procedure, Nolan said, so the woman was taken by ambulance with serious injuries to the Lahey Clinic. Nolan said the woman’s current medical status is not known.

The cause of the crash remains under investigation.

The left and middle lanes of I-495 south were closed as Tewksbury firefighters and law enforcement officials extricated the woman from the crumpled vehicle. The highway has since fully reopened, Nolan said.