One person has died following a collision between a state Department of Transportation bucket truck and a Jeep SUV at exit 44 off Route 8 northbound in Torrington, according to police.
State police said the driver of the Jeep, 22-year-old Christopher Watts of Litchfield, has died. Emergency officials cut him out of the SUV and rushed him to Charlotte Hungerford Hospital, but he couldn't be saved, authorities said.
Police said the DOT truck was parked along the exit 44 off-ramp to fix an overhead traffic light when Watts lost control of the Jeep and slid across the road into the rear end of the DOT truck.
The driver and passenger of the DOT truck were not injured.
The crash happened just before noon Friday. The off-ramp was closed for about three hours and Route 8 was down to one lane of traffic, but the road has since reopened.
It's not clear what caused the collision.
