Rhode Island State Police release preliminary investigation into double fatal rollover highway crash

The Rhode Island State Police today provided an update about the motor vehicle crash that killed two people yesterday on Route 295.

At approximately 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, multiple 911 callers reported a multi-vehicle rollover crash on Route 295 North near the Mendon Road overpass in Cumberland.

Upon arrival, Troopers observed a Dodge Ram 1500, Hyundai Ionic, and an Acura ADX in the left lane. The Dodge was resting on its passenger side and was facing north, perpendicular to the fourth lane of travel. The Hyundai was located several feet north of the Dodge, also facing north, and upright on its tires. The Acura was in the right breakdown lane and sustained minor damage.

Troopers observed that the lone occupants of the Dodge and the Hyundai were trapped inside their cars and that the Hyundai, an electric vehicle, was beginning to smolder. Both operators were extricated from their vehicles by fire/ rescue personnel before the Hyundai was fully engulfed in flames.

Multiple witnesses described the Hyundai driving in a reckless manner, speeding, and overtaking other vehicles in the grassy median on the southbound side of Route 295. Just prior to the crash site, furrows in the grassy median indicated that the Hyundai veered left, entered the median, struck the center guardrail, and entered the left lane of travel on the northbound side. Now traveling southbound in the northbound left lane, the Hyundai struck the Dodge head-on. After impact, the Dodge rotated and rolled onto its passenger side, sideswiped the Acura and both the Hyundai and Dodge came to rest in the left lane.

The operator of the Hyundai, Joel Costa, age 29, of Hyde Park, Massachusetts, was pronounced dead at the scene.

The operator of the Dodge, Jonathan Welch, age 44, of Norton, Massachusetts, was transported to Rhode Island Hospital and died at the hospital.

Neither operator was wearing a seatbelt.

While the investigation is ongoing, initial information indicates that speed and loss of control on the part of the Hyundai operator were the primary causes of this crash.