Van overturns in river in North Reading

The North Reading Police and Fire Departments responded to a rollover crash Tuesday morning. North Reading Police Department

A van carrying adults with disabilities overturned into water in North Reading Tuesday morning, leaving seven people injured, the North Reading Fire Department said.

At 10:22 a.m., the 2017 Dodge Grand Caravan was driving six adult passangers with disabilities east on Park Street when it drifted from the road, hit a guardrail, and flipped over into the ditch of a cement drain that feeds into the Ipswich River, North Reading Police Lieutenant Thomas Romeo said.

The van came to rest on its roof in three to four inches of water in the area of 209 Park St., North Reading police and fire said in a statement.

Six passangers and a male driver were on board at the time. All seven were taken to Lahey Hospital and Medical Center in Burlington with non-life-threatening injuries. No other vehicles were involved, officials said.

“This was a serious crash but fortunately not a tragic one,” North Reading Police Chief Michael Murphy said in the statement. “Two residents who saw the crash wasted no time in acting to help the passengers inside the van, and I want to thank them for the important role they played in helping emergency personnel bring everyone to safety.”

EMS and fire officials from Middleton, Wilmington, and Andover responded to the scene, said a spokesperson from the fire department who declined to give his name. The crash remains under investigation, officials said.