A moose was killed and one person suffered minor injuries early Thursday after three vehicles hit the animal on Route 9 in Westborough, officials said.
Firefighters responded to 290 Turnpike Road at about 12:45 a.m. following a report of a car hitting a moose, Westborough Fire Chief Patrick Purcell said.
One car, a Subaru, driven by Kevin Williams, hit the moose after the animal had apparently hopped the road barrier, Purcell said. Two other vehicles, including a tractor-trailer, also hit the moose, he said.
Johnson, the sole occupant of the Subaru, suffered minor injuries and was transported to UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester, Purcell said.
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The moose’s body was taken to the Northborough depot and afterward was buried, said Jacquelyn Goddard, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Transportation.
Donna Williams, Kevin Williams’s mother, said her son had left his girlfriend’s house and was driving on Route 9 at about 35 miles per hour when the moose seemed to come out of nowhere.
“He didn’t even see it coming,” she said.
Donna Williams seemed astonished by the extent of damage done to her son’s vehicle by the 400-pound animal.
“The car looks awful,” she said. “The whole windshield was pushed up against him and cracked.”
She said her son was sleeping following the early morning incident.
The Westborough Fire Department shared on Twitter a picture of the aftermath of the crash. In the image, the Subaru’s windshield is smashed and pushed in on one side, and a portion of the car’s roof is crushed.
Steve Annear can be reached at steve.annear@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @steveannear.