2 Dead After Wrong-Way Driver Causes Crash On Route 1, State Police Say
SAUGUS (CBS) -- Two people died after a head-on collision on Route 1 in Saugus early Saturday morning. Mass. State Police said the crash was caused by a wrong-way driver.
Around 3:30 a.m., the wrong-way driver, identified as 29-year-old Luis Gallego, of Lynn, clipped the back of a box truck and crashed head-on into a Dodge Journey. Gallego's car then caught on fire, State Police said. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Two people in the Journey were seriously injured. The 51-year-old Peabody man driving was rushed to Massachusetts General Hospital. The woman in his car was rushed to Melrose-Wakefield Hospital where she died.
State Police later identified her as Evelyn Pinto, 48, of Peabody.
The driver of the box truck was not hurt.
Moments before the crash, State Police said they received a call about a wrong-way driver going south on the northbound side of the highway near the Sonic restaurant in Peabody. The crash occurred near the Army Barracks store in Saugus.
Route 1 northbound was closed for hours as police investigated. It is unclear what caused the driver to go on the opposite side of the road.