PEABODY — A 56-year-old Merrimack Valley man was killed and a Peabody man was seriously injured after a three-car crash on Route 128 yesterday afternoon.
State police identified the victim as Wallace Arnott of Haverhill. He was pronounced dead at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston just after noon.
A doctor on his way to work and an unidentified nurse stopped to assist Arnott, who state police said had been driving a 2005 Chevrolet Aveo, a compact car. He was taken by ambulance to Salem Hospital and then flown by medical helicopter to Mass General.
A 52-year-old man from Peabody, Kenneth Weeden, in a 1996 Jeep Cherokee sport utility vehicle also had serious injuries and was taken to Salem Hospital.
The driver of a 2002 Chevrolet Venture minivan, 42-year-old Rita Tavarez of Chelsea, was not injured.
The three vehicles were involved in a series of rear-end crashes, according to state police. The accident is under investigation.
The crash took place at 6:44 a.m. in the northbound lane of Route 128 near the Lowell Street exit. Dr. Joshua Namias said he was driving to work at Salem Hospital when he came upon the scene.
Namias said he pulled over to see if he could help. Bystanders told him that one of the accident victims needed assistance. Namias said the man was clearly unconscious and was already being assisted by a nurse who had also stopped to help. Namias said he does not know the nurse.
The front doors of the hatchback were jammed, so Namias got in through a passenger-side back door and climbed into the back seat.
Namias said it looked as though the man had suffered a spinal injury so he helped to support his neck. State police provided a neck brace that Namias and the nurse placed on the victim.
When they checked for a pulse and could not find one, they placed him on the ground on Route 128 and Namias began administering CPR using a breathing mask from the state police emergency kit.
Namias said he and the nurse performed CPR for "a minute or two" until paramedics arrived and took over.
Namias, a gastroenterologist based at Salem Hospital, said he always stops at accidents to see if he can assist.
"One of the reasons I went into medicine is to help people," he said. "I have the ability, hopefully, to help, especially if there are no police or ambulance there yet."
Troopers from the state police barracks in Danvers responded to the scene along with the Peabody Fire Department and the Massachusetts Highway Division.
Immediately after the crash, a second accident between two vehicles occurred on the southbound side of Route 128 at the same location. State police said there were no serious injuries reported in that crash.
All lanes, northbound and southbound, were cleared at 10:30 a.m., state police said.
Staff writer Paul Leighton can be reached at 978-338-2675 or pleighton@gloucestertimes.com.
Staff writer Bruno Matarazzo Jr. contributed to this report.
Vatican in Chaos After Butler Arrested for Leaks
Jimmy Carter Endorses Egypt's Election Results
Biden Addresses West Point Graduating Class
Dozens of Children Killed in New Syria Attack
Raw Video: Activists Allege Massacre in Syria
NJ Man Charged With Murder in Death of Patz
Support, Fun for Kids of Fallen Soldiers at Camp
Fugitive Penguin Caught, Returned to Aquarium
50 Years Later, Underground Fire Still Burning
Light Show Transforms Sydney Opera House
Raw Video: Unruly Passenger Restrained in Miami
Raw Video: Robber Uses Drive-thru Window
Raw Video: Dragon Arrives at Space Station
Calif.'s Coronado Named Nation's Best Beach
CEO Salaries Become Sore Issue in Labor Disputes
