Two dead after hotel van is rear-ended near Logan Airport

By adamg on Wed, 08/31/2016 - 1:41am

Updated.

Two people who had just arrived from El Paso, TX died early this morning when a Swampscott man rear-ended their Hampton Inn van on Rte. 1A just outside Logan Airport, State Police report.

Two other van passengers and the van driver - as well as the Subaru Legacy driver who hit them - were also hospitalized, but are expected to survive the 1:30 a.m. crash, State Police say.

State Police say the van had just left the airport and was headed north on 1A when it was hit by the car, whose driver had just exited the Ted Williams Tunnel.

The impact caused the bus to veer to its left, striking the jersey barrier, and then back to its right, hitting the right side barrier. Two occupants of the bus were ejected and were determined to be deceased at the scene, a 58-year-old man and a 47-year-old woman, both from El Paso, Texas. Their names are not being released at this time. ...

The shuttle is equipped with seatbelts. Seatbelt use by victims will be determined by the ongoing investigation.

State Police identified the victims as Joseph A. Rodriguez, 59, and Sandra L. Arreola, 47, both of El Paso.

On arrival, a Boston Fire Department commander declared a "mass casualty incident."

Neighborhoods:

East Boston

Topics:

Driving

Free tagging:

Ted Williams Tunnel

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Comments

Critical injuries?

By aldos on Wed, 08/31/2016 - 8:35am.

Four other occupants from both vehicles were transported to Massachusetts General Hospital with injuries that are not believed to be life-threatening.

Doesn't sound critical to me. Hopefully the remaining patients will be okay.

Fixed

By adamg on Wed, 08/31/2016 - 8:56am.

Never add to a story before coffee; somehow I missed the "not."

That's not how Critical Injury is defined.

By Felicity on Wed, 08/31/2016 - 9:11am.

Losing a limb or vision would be a Critical Injury, but not necessarily life-threaatening.

https://www.naeyc.org/academy/criticalinjury

http://commonhealth.legacy.wbur.org/2013/04/serious-critical-condition-d...

http://www.pitt.edu/~epi2670/severity/severity.pdf

I've long wondered about shuttle van seatbelts

By SwirlyGrrl on Wed, 08/31/2016 - 12:20pm.

Yes, they are usually there, but they are anchored to the doors or don't all work in the back of every spot is taken ... I usually try to grab the front seat if I can.
If this was a van where the middle row shoulder belts are a mess of flimsy plastic and come way too high over the top of a passenger, they might not have worked.

Very sad for the travelers and their families.

RIP

By anon on Wed, 08/31/2016 - 2:42pm.

Something similar can happen to any of us, at anytime. Something to every so often ponder.