Cyclist hit and killed by truck in Harvard Square

UPDATE (9/1/2020): The victim has been identified as Darryl Willis, 55.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- A cyclist died Tuesday morning after being hit by a tractor-trailer in Harvard Square, according to the Cambridge Fire Department.

According to an eye witness, the bicyclist was killed in a narrow stretch of Mass Ave near the old Harvard Square News Stand Kiosk, just as a tractor trailer truck was trying to maneuver through the roadway.

The tractor trailer truck bore New Mexico license plates. And a sign on the cab door read: Gaby’s Elite Transport.

A check of records revealed the company employees only one driver and owns a single truck. The records also reveal a mostly clean driving record with only two relatively minor infractions.

Names have not yet been released.

The crash prompted a member of the local group, Cambridge Bicycle Safety, to renew its call to make Cambridge safer for bicyclists.

“It’s completely unacceptable and the city really needs to think of this as an emergency. They have the plans to change this intersection and make it safer. They can do it right away,” George Schneeloch of Cambridge Bicycle Safety told Boston 25 News.

The Middlesex County District Attorney is investigating the circumstances of the incident.

Drivers were being asked to avoid the square during the investigation into the death.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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