Fatal crash shut down I-95 in Milford for roughly 7 hours

MILFORD — A stretch of Interstate 95 north was shut down during peak morning rush hour for roughly seven hours Thursday when a dump truck fatally slammed into the Quarry Road overpass.

“The dump truck was ...believed to have the dump body in the up position,” said Sgt. Robert Derry of Connecticut State Police Troop G in Bridgeport.

The driver, who has yet to be identified by state police, was tossed from his vehicle after the truck hit the highway overpass between Exits 40 and 41 around 7:45 a.m., said Milford Fire Battalion Chief Anthony Fabrizi.

A second passenger vehicle was also involved in the crash, but the driver was not seriously injured, Fabrizi said.

Derry said four other vehicles were involved in the crash. He gave no further details.

The force of the impact ripped the rear box bed off the truck’s wheels and mangled the driver’s cab. The truck was left overturned, blocking all three lanes of I-95 and shutting down the highway until around 3 p.m.

The male driver was “ejected upon impact and sustained extensive traumatic injuries,” Fabrizi said. He said a passing physician and an EMT who came across the wreck shortly after it happened rendered initial medical care to the victim until fire department paramedics showed up.

The driver died from his injuries while being transported to Yale Trauma Center, reports said.

The crash shut down Quarry Road across I-95 out of concern that the bridge might have structural damage from being hit. But after a safety inspection by the state Department of Transportation, it was reopened about two hours later.

The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection sent a representative because of hazardous fluids that leaked onto the highway.

State police continue to investigate the accident.