Route 1 accident halts traffic for miles

SAUGUS – A rollover on Route 1 South occurring when two backhoes fell off a tractor trailer caused traffic to be backed up seven or eight miles on Friday, according to state police.Around 3 p.m., the two backhoes being towed on the tractor trailer struck the bridge going south and fell off the trailer, said Trooper Joseph Flynn.Flynn said there were no injuries. Police were still investigating what company the tractor trailer belonged to as of Friday evening.Bystanders on both sides of the highway said the driver of the trailer and another driver, described by many as a woman with a baby in a sport utility vehicle, were very lucky.Lynn resident Shane Baker said he saw the incident occur from the Boston Market parking lot, and described the sound of the impact as a “pretty solid thud, then it skidded for a second and that was it.”Baker said the front axle of the SUV was snapped in the impact. “Had it been a second later, the lady would have been crushed. She got real lucky.”Saugus police and fire and state police all aided in the cleanup of the incident, which Flynn said was cleared by about 6 p.m.