One day after a tractor-trailer carrying US Mail plummeted into the Charles River, sending “hundreds” of packages adrift in Weston, investigators Sunday were still trying to learn how the rig went off a ramp leading to Interstate 95, officials said.
The truck was exiting the Massachusetts Turnpike east and was on the ramp to I-95 north shortly before noon on Saturday, when it drove off the ramp, over a guardrail and down the embankment into the river, Weston fire said in a statement.
State Police and fire crews from Weston and Newton responded to the scene, which closed the ramp for much of Saturday.
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Weston Fire Chief David Soar said crews saw “hundreds” of packages and pieces of mail floating in the river, which firefighters helped pull out of the water.
“We had a boat in the water, we were helping the recovery team hook up parts of the truck [to tow it out of the water] so while they had the boat in the water, they were scooping up as much mail as they could,” Soar said on Sunday. “We got most of it out of the water. Some of it probably sunk, but they got a lot of mail out of the water.”
Upon arrival, firefighters found the driver standing on top of the truck’s trailer, where he had managed to pull himself out from the cabin of the vehicle before it sank, officials said. The driver could not swim, according to State Police.
“Firefighters donned cold water rescue suits and removed him [the driver] through the water to shore within 5 minutes of arrival,” Weston fire said on Facebook.
The driver was taken to Brigham and Women’s Hospital for evaluation, officials said. No injuries were reported.
The US Postal Inspection Service was notified about the crash and officials responded to the scene of the crash, Soar said.
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In a statement, postal officials said the inspection division is investigating the crash with state and local police. “The disposition of any mail on board will be determined by Postal Inspectors once their investigation is completed,” the service said in a statement issued Saturday.
A spokesman could not immediately be reached for additional comment on Sunday.
The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection also responded to determine any environmental impact from the crash, but there was no sign of any fuel leaking into the water, Soar said.
Crews from Weston Fire and State Police remained on scene until roughly 9 p.m. while attempting to tow the truck out of the river, officials said. Divers from the State Police assisted by Weston fire were able to rig the tractor trailer, allowing heavy-duty tow trucks to pull it out of the water, said David Procopio, a spokesman for State Police, in an e-mail Sunday.
“It took a long time, because crews tried to get the trailer out so that it wouldn’t break and lose all the mail [while towing it out of the water.] And they did, so they did a really good job,” Soar said. “There was so much mud that the trailer had just kind of suctioned into the ground.”
The tractor-trailer on Sunday had not yet been inspected by State Police to evaluate any potential vehicle violations or mechanical issues, as is standard after all commercial truck crashes, Procopio said.
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Katie Redefer can be reached at katie.redefer@globe.com.