Map: Approximate location of fatal crash
Seven people were killed and three others injured when a group of motorcycles and a pickup truck collided Friday evening on a rural highway in New Hampshire’s White Mountains, police said.
The crash occurred on Route 2 in Randolph, according to a statement from New Hampshire State Police. Police said a 2016 Dodge 2500 pickup truck was traveling west on the route at the time of the crash, while the motorcycles were headed east.
The truck collided with several motorcycles, according to authorities. Police confirmed that seven were killed as a result of the crash, while two people were taken to the Androscoggin Valley Hospital and one person was airlifted to Maine Medical Center. The names of the victims were not released Friday night.
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The motorcyclists were believed to have been part of a large group of Marine veterans who were visiting the area.
New Hampshire State Police and Coos County attorney were on the scene Friday night. An investigation is ongoing.
A photo posted by WMUR-TV showed motorcycles and wreckage scattered across the highway and a truck on the shoulder in flames.
Jerry Hamanne, who is a co-owner of The Inn at Bowman, said the crash occurred about a thousand feet from his bed-and-breakfast. He said he was alerted to the crash when someone from a nearby motel, Mount Jefferson View, called his inn at about 6:30 p.m. and asked if they had anyone who was a doctor staying there who could help the wounded. There was, and a doctor did what they could before first responders arrived, he said.
Hamanne, 62, did not see the crash, but described a gruesome scene in its immediate aftermath. People were crying and yelling for help. Some of those who had riding motorcycles were bleeding. Smoke billowed from the truck that was involved in the crash. Hamanne said he did not know how many motorcycles were struck.
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“They were so smashed up, I don’t know how many there were,” he said during a phone interview late Friday night.
Motorists stopped and tended to the wounded, he said. They placed blankets over three people who were believed to be dead at the scene, according to Hamanne.
Dozens of police were on the scene Friday night and Route 2 was shut down for several hours. As of 10:30 p.m., Hamanne said the road was still closed. Hamanne said it was his understanding that the motorcycle group had just pulled out of the motel, on their way to dinner, when tragedy struck.
“Just a devastating evening,” he said.
At Mount Jefferson View, co-owners Dewald and Christo Steinmann said those on motorcycles struck were part of a group of 80 who were staying at the motel. The brothers Steinmann said that the group consisted of Marine veterans. The Steinmanns said the crash was an awful tragedy and said their thoughts and prayers go out to the families of those who were killed and injured in the crash.
Randolph police could not be reached for comment Friday. Gorham police deferred comment to the State Police.
Randolph is about a two-hour drive north of Concord, the state capital.
Update: Multiple fatalities have been reported as a result of a crash involving motorcycles and a pickup truck on Route 2 in Randolph: https://t.co/jRXu5YaPKK
— WMUR TV (@WMUR9) June 22, 2019
📸: u local/Miranda Thompson pic.twitter.com/2O8VTNWtQu
Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.