Fatal crash snarls Lynn traffic

LYNN – A soft snowfall was the backdrop to a tragic two-vehicle accident that left one person dead and shut down Lynnfield Street from Wyoma Square to Millard Avenue for more than two hours on Thursday.A Chevrolet Prizm was crushed late morning after colliding with a large red Sheehan food service panel truck at Colonial Avenue and Lynnfield Street.”There is death involved,” said Lt. Richard Donnelly. “There is still a crew at the scene investigating.”Donnelly said he believed speed may have been a factor in the accident that left the Prizm partially on the sidewalk and facing north but in the southbound lane of Lynnfield Street.”We didn’t see the accident but we heard it,” said Diane Miles, who lives at the corner of Mazza Road, just across the street from Colonial Avenue.Miles said she and her neighbor heard a large bang, and she later saw a person being removed from the white Prizm on a backboard via the rear window.The windshield on the sedan appeared to have buckled in the crash, as did the roof. The car’s rear bumper and passenger side rear tire both lay in the street amid other bits of debris. The passenger side airbag hung deflated from the window and that side of the vehicle was largely crumpled inward as the front end of the car rested just behind the front wheel of the panel truck, which appeared to have little damage.Yellow police tape stretched across Lynnfield Street at Great Woods Road and again at Colonial Avenue while police physically blocked traffic at Holly Avenue, keeping all but necessary personnel out of the area. It did not keep onlookers from speculating what had happened, however.Miles said she couldn’t figure out which way the car had been traveling or exactly how the accident happened, but she wouldn’t be surprised to hear that speed had been a factor.”We don’t see too many accidents here, but people just drive so fast,” she said.Lynnfield Street was reopened to traffic by 3 p.m., but police had little comment other than to say the accident was under investigation.
LYNNFIELD STREET IS NOW OPEN FOR TRAVEL. THANK YOU! – Lynn Police Dept (@LynnPoliceDept) December 26, 2013
LYNNFIELD STREET TRAFFIC UDPDATE FYI – A BAD TRAFFIC ACCIDENT ON LYNNFIELD STREET HAS FORCED US TO CLOSE… http://t.co/uBg16ltuFi – Lynn Police Dept (@LynnPoliceDept) December 26, 2013