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August 8, 2007

Update: Drivers identified in tractor trailer crash

A Central Falls man is in stable condition at Rhode Island Hospital after the tractor trailer he was driving rear-ended another truck on Route 95 northbound around 4:30 a.m., causing the highway to be closed to traffic during the morning commute, the state police said.

Gilbert Galvin, 59, of 106 Sacred Heart Ave., is being treated in the hospital’s trauma intensive care unit, state police Sgt. Karen Pinch said.

The driver of the other rig, Brenda Falke, 45, of Alto Bay, N.H., was taken to Westerly Hospital, where she was treated and released.

The accident happened at about 4:30 a.m. just south of Exit 3. State police closed a portion of Route 95 northbound for several hours as crews worked to clear the roadway in Richmond and Hopkinton of wreckage and diesel fuel that spilled from the vehicles, Hope Valley-Wyoming Fire Chief Frederick Stanley said. Traffic was detoured off the highway onto Route 3 until around 10 a.m.

Galvin drove the double tractor trailer, which rear-ended the single tractor as both traveled in the low-speed lane, Pinch said.

Galvin’s cab dislodged from the trailer upon impact and flipped, Stanley said. Hope Valley firefighters used an extrication device to pull him from the wreck, where he was hanging by his seatbelt with serious head injuries, Stanley said. He was taken to Rhode Island Hospital by Hope Valley ambulance, Stanley said.

An accident reconstruction team is investigating to see whether speed was a factor or whether there will be charges, Pinch said.

The state departments of Transportation and Environmental Management oversaw the fuel clean-up, Stanley said. Fire crews from Ashaway and Richmond-Carolina also responded to the scene.

-- Journal staff writer Katie Mulvaney, with reports from projo.com staff writers Michael P. McKinney and Kate Bramson

Posted by Mike McKinney  at 6:01 PM | Permalink

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