Accidents in N.H., Cambridge leave 5 dead
RUMNEY, N.H. - After they saw the car careen off the road and plunge into the Baker River, bystanders yesterday morning pulled one person from the partially submerged wreck. Police didn't find two others until they hauled the car from the water.
Brandy Duguay and Matthew Milton, both 19, and of Thornton, N.H., and Jason Marrer, 24, of Holderness, N.H., were killed, state police said.
It was the second fatal car crash in New England yesterday. About four hours earlier, a Somerville couple died when their sport utility vehicle went out of control on Route 2 in Cambridge and hit a light pole, then rolled atop a
Investigators were still piecing together details from both crashes last night.
The 9 a.m. New Hampshire crash happened in full view of a popular rock climbing spot in Rumney. News of the tragedy traveled quickly through the town of less than 1,500. Friends stopped neighbors after church with warnings that Buffalo Road was closed, while residents yesterday afternoon re called hearing sirens.
Skid marks showed where the
Some residents say there was hardly any roadside protection for drivers maneuvering the narrow-winding road overlooking the river.
"There are no guard rails on that side of the road. Would that have saved them?" asked Tom Camara, a truck driver who lives nearby.
Lifelong Rumney resident Raymond Keniston had his own close call on Buffalo Road a few years ago when he was sideswiped by another vehicle.
"It's a narrow back road. If you drive 25 miles an hour you're probably safe, but if you go 50 it's not good. It's crooked and narrow," Keniston said. "It's a lot of bad corners. People drive too fast."
Friends who traveled to the accident site yesterday afternoon described the deceased as young people with kind smiles and kind natures, and who were "more than just friends" to one another. They said their friends were coming from a party.
"I can't even cry. I'm in shock," said 17-year-old Megan Stewart, of Ashland, N.H. Stewart said she had recently borrowed a prom dress from Duguay.
"I'm sure [guard rails] will get put up now, but that doesn't make a difference now," said Jennifer Malloy, 23, of Campton, N.H., who said she knew Duguay and Marrer.
Speed may also have factored into the earlier crash in Cambridge, when a driver lost control of a 2002 Infiniti, police said.
Vytautas Narkevicius's vehicle struck a light pole and rolled atop a 1999 Volkswagen stopped at a red light on Alewife Brook Parkway West, State Police said. Narkevicius, 60, had been trying to turn left onto Route 16.
Also killed was Mary Narkevicius, 59, State Police said. Both died at the scene. According to police, Eduvigs Zayas, a passenger in the Infiniti, was taken to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center with serious injuries. The 53-year-old Medford man's condition could not be confirmed yesterday afternoon.
The female driver of the Volkswagen, a juvenile, was taken to Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge with minor injuries, police said. Two other passengers were not injured. Investigators withheld their names, citing their ages.
Police closed Alewife Brook Parkway West for more than three hours because of the crash, which was still being investigated yesterday afternoon. There were no other details about the crash or its victims.
"We're not releasing any information at this time," said a woman who answered the phone at an address listed for the Narkeviciuses.
Erin Ailworth can be reached at eailworth@globe.com.
