TAUNTON, Mass. — One person is dead and six others are injured after a wrong-way driver caused a fiery crash in Taunton late Wednesday evening.
Taunton firefighters responded to a call at around 11:30 p.m. to Interstate 495 near exit 9, about 100 feet from the Norton town line.
At the scene, emergency crews found one car fully engulfed in flames and two others damaged.
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Preliminary investigation suggests the wrong-way driver, 84-year-old Arnold Reda, of Foxborough, was headed south on the northbound side of I-495 when he collided with two other cars.
Reda first crashed into a car driven by a 56-year-old man who had three passengers; a 42-year-old woman and a 12 and 10-year-old boy, all of them from Foxborough.
A Good Samaritan stopped and smashed out the window, pulling the children to safety before the car caught on fire, fire officials said. The family of those children would love to know who that stranger was that stopped and saved their lives so they can thank them.
Both adults were transported to Rhode Island Hospital while the children were taken to Hasbro Children's Hospital in Providence, all with non-life threatening injuries.
The second car struck by Reda was being driven by a 58-year-old woman from Weymouth, with one passenger; a 27-year-old woman from Foxborough. The driver wasn't injured, but the passenger was taken to Sturdy Memorial Hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
A woman who says she was nearly hit by the driver while she was on her way home from work is happy to be alive.
Nicole Russel was on I-495 in the Mansfield area when she was about to get on I-95. "All of a sudden, I see a guy swerve over quickly," she said, "I see headlights coming at me." She estimated Reda was driving around 80 to 90 mph
She immediately called 911.
Reda's car caught fire in the crash and he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police shut down I-495 northbound after the crash between exits 9 and 10 for the investigation.
State Police are currently investigating the crash.
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