CUMBERLAND, RI — Two Massachusetts men were killed Thursday in a violent head-on crash on Interstate 295 in Cumberland after state police say an electric Hyundai crossed the median and hit a Dodge Ram in the northbound lanes.
Troopers were called to the scene around 3:31 p.m. near the Mendon Road overpass, where they found several damaged vehicles spread across the highway. Investigators said the crash sequence left the Hyundai on the left side of the roadway and the Dodge rolled onto its passenger side. A third vehicle, an Acura ADX, was also struck with minor damage. Both drivers trapped inside the Hyundai and Dodge were later identified by police as residents of Massachusetts.
Witness accounts point to high-speed driving before the crash
State police said multiple witnesses reported seeing the Hyundai traveling recklessly before the collision, including speeding and passing other vehicles in the grassy median on the southbound side of the highway. Investigators believe the vehicle then veered left, entered the median, hit the center guardrail and crossed into northbound traffic.
From there, police said, the Hyundai struck the Dodge head-on. The impact sent the Dodge onto its passenger side and caused it to sideswipe the Acura ADX in the right breakdown lane. Both the Dodge and Hyundai came to rest in the left lane, creating a hazardous scene for emergency crews responding to the wreck.
The crash remains under investigation, and state police have not announced any charges or said whether impairment was a factor.
Electric Hyundai began to smolder before crews reached the drivers
Fire and rescue teams had to work quickly after arriving because the Hyundai, which police identified as an electric vehicle, had begun to smolder. Officers and firefighters extricated both trapped drivers before the car became fully engulfed in flames.
Emergency responders then treated the aftermath of the collision on a busy stretch of interstate that was littered with wreckage and disabled vehicles. Police said the Dodge and Hyundai were the main vehicles involved in the fatal impact, while the Acura suffered only minor damage. The scene stretched across lanes and required a coordinated response from troopers and local rescue personnel.
Officials did not say how long the roadway remained affected, but the crash involved multiple vehicles and a fire risk that complicated the rescue effort.
Police identified the victims as Joel Costa and Jonathan Welch
State police identified the driver of the Hyundai as 29-year-old Joel Costa of Hyde Park, Massachusetts. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the Dodge Ram was identified as 44-year-old Jonathan Welch of Norton, Massachusetts. Police said Welch was taken to Rhode Island Hospital, where he later died.
Investigators also said neither driver was wearing a seat belt. That detail is part of the ongoing reconstruction of the crash, which remains open as troopers continue to piece together the exact sequence of events leading up to the head-on impact.
The deaths add to the seriousness of a collision that began with reported reckless driving and ended with two fatal crashes within minutes of the first emergency call.
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