By Brendan Connolly
MANCHESTER — A 24-year-old Manchester man died early yesterday when his 2004 Audi crashed over a guardrail on Route 128 northbound and slammed into trees in the median, just north of Exit 17.
The man, whose name was still being withheld by Massachusetts State Police pending notification of next of kin late last night, was ejected from the vehicle upon impact and pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said.
Police said the name of the victim, who was apparently alone in the vehicle, was not being released because the man's parents are out of the country and could not be reached.
State police indicated that speed appears to have been a factor in the crash, but added that it will be "a couple of days" before they can determine whether alcohol was involved. The crash remains under investigation, authorities said.
State police responded at 2:47 a.m. to the one-vehicle accident on the northbound side of Route 128, north of Grapevine Road exit in Wenham.
The crash is under investigation by Trooper Michael Sargent, with the assistance of the State Police Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Section State Police Crime Scene Services Section and Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.
Gloucester, Beverly and Wenham Police, along with Wenham firefighters and the Department of Transportation Highway Division, all assisted state police troopers at the scene.
Route 128 northbound was closed for several hours due to the investigation and vehicle removal, and highway crews worked in the pre-dawn hours to repair the guardrail. But the road was reopened yesterday by 6 a.m.
