BARRE — A Hubbardston teenager was killed and her 15-year-old brother seriously injured when their car left the road and struck a tree in Barre Wednesday morning, police said.
Brittany Murch, a 17-year-old senior at Quabbin Regional High School, was driving a 2007 Kia Spectra on Route 62 when the car crashed, authorities said. The crash was reported at 9:10 a.m.
The Quabbin Regional School District had delayed the start of school two hours because of icy roads Wednesday morning.
Police Chief Erik Demetropoulos said Murch died at the scene, and her brother, Griffin Murch, was taken by ambulance to UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester. A spokesman at the hospital could provide no information about Griffin Murch’s condition Wednesday night.
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Demetropoulos said State Police accident reconstruction specialists are assisting in determining the cause of the crash, and said he one could speculate that icy road conditions contributed to the accident.
Police believe Murch was heading to Barre when she lost control of her car and it spun around, striking the tree. The driver’s side of the vehicle sustained heavy damage.
There were two single-vehicle accidents in the area at around the same time. Calls about both accidents came in to the Rutland Regional Communication Center simultaneously, the chief said.
The other crash involved a Jeep Grand Cherokee, which also struck a tree.
The Jeep crash left 17-year-old Teagan Cybulski of Hubbardston with minor injuries, the chief said. She is a student at Quabbin Regional High School and was headed there when, she told police, she lost control of the car, which came to rest off the road.
After school Wednesday, Quabbin students described Brittany Murch, a member of the high school cross-country team, as a quiet person but a familiar face around the high school.
“She was always kind-hearted — never mean to anyone, always willing to be your friend,” said junior Meghan Welch. “She always had a smile on her face.”
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Welch said she had passed by the scene of the Kia crash on her way to school.
She said it is common for students to get into spinouts and other trouble on that stretch of Hubbardston Road when Quabbin has delayed openings.