Three people were injured when a tractor-trailer carrying bottled water collided with three Mohawk Construction Company vehicles on Interstate 91 South in Middletown on Monday morning.
The crash happened at a construction site near exit 20 and police said Mohawk Construction has a contract with the state Department of Transportation. State police Troop H barracks received multiple 911 calls reporting the crash at about 9 a.m.
Mowhawk Construction employee Peter Kenroy Virgo, 40, of Hartford, was putting up signs for a construction job when Leon Nelson, 55, of Worcester, Massachusetts veered into the breakdown lane in the National Freight Inc. tractor-trailer he was driving. He struck three Mowhawk Construction Company vehicles parked in the breakdown lane, state police said.
Virgo was in the rear bed of the third construction vehicle and the collision knocked him over, causing him to strike his head on the truck. He was taken to Hartford Hospital to be treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
Mowhawk employees Christopher Hylan, 54, of Clinton, and David A. Delisle, 35, of Manchester, jumped over the guardrail when they heard the tractor trailer's tires screeching. Both were transported to Hartford Hospital. They were treated for minor non-life-threatening injuries and released.
The injuries do not appear to be serious, but OSHA and Consumer Protection were called in to investigate. The accident reconstruction crew also responded, but has competed its investigation.
State police cited the tractor trailer driver, Nelson, with failure to drive at a reasonable distance apart in a construction zone, failure to maintain the proper lane in a construction zone and failure to stop on the right side of the road.
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The highway was closed and has since reopened. The accident caused a lot of traffic delays. At one point, traffic was backed for six miles to exit 23 in Rocky Hill.
Drivers were advised to take the Berlin Turnpike or Route 217 to Route 66 to avoid the traffic.
