Shortly before 7:00 am the Rochester Police, Fire, and EMS were called to the report of a crash involving a truck on Mary’s Pond Road at the bridge on the Sippican River.
When they arrived on the scene, they found that a tractor-trailer truck had flipped into the Sippican River at the bridge at Bates’s Road.
Neighbors reported that the driver, who was travelling eastbound on Mary’s Pond Road, was approaching an oncoming truck where the road narrows.
Damage at the scene showed that the passenger side front tire of the truck had contacted the curb at which time it blew out. The dragging tire, along with the momentum of the truck with a full load of gravel, dragged the truck forward and to the right. The truck then impacted the guardrail at the bridge and rolled into the river.
Police Chief Paul McGee, who was controlling the many facets of the scene, had a moment to report that the driver “was extricated by the Rochester Fire and transported to a Rhode Island hospital by helicopter.” Magee said there is no update on his status, “but with a crash of this magnitude, it’s standard procedure to airlift the patient.”
Workers are trying to control as much of the spill as they can at this time, Magee added.
By 9:00 am, other agencies had arrived on the scene including utility crews who were needed to remove utility and power wires above the crash before the truck could be lifted out of the water via crane.
The Marion Harbormaster’s office was on scene to assess the possible impact downstream, as the Sippican River is a source of water for cranberry bogs and residential wells and leads to the ocean though Marion Harbor.
The Massachusetts State Police were also on scene to assess the situation as the incident involved commercial trucking, which is overseen by their agency.
Damage to the bridge was extensive as the remaining guardrail was removed to access the situation.
The bridge had been rebuilt just over ten years ago.
This story will be updated as more information becomes available.
By Paul Lopes and Jean Perry
