Truck Slams Into Car, Flies Off I-93; Car Driver, Infant Uninjured

MANCHESTER, NH — An accident on Interstate 93 in Manchester, possibly related to the heavy rains and flooding on the roadway, sent a driver from Massachusetts to the hospital on Thursday.

Manchester Fire, Police, AMR, and New Hampshire State Police responded to I-93 south at mile marker 20.8 in the area of the Hanover Street off-ramp for a report of a rollover around 10:30 a.m.

Upon arrival, they found a Subaru with an infant in the back seat and the car appeared to be rear-ended by a GMC Sierra pickup truck. After colliding with the car, the truck hit a guardrail and drove over the embankment, rolling over several times, striking support wires for utility poles, and coming to rest in a swamp on the Hanover Street connector.

Additional fire and EMS were dispatched to the scene, and firefighters worked to get to the injured man. Firefighters worked in waist-deep water to remove the man and get him to a waiting stretcher.

Fabricio Defaria, 40, of Holliston, Massachusetts, was ejected during the rollover crash according to state police. He was taken to Elliot Hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.

The driver of the Subaru, Karen Shankle, 23, of Manchester, and the infant in her car were not injured. The infant was secured in a rear-facing car seat and was covered with glass but not struck by the truck.

Duval's Towing recovered the truck from the swamp and lifted it onto a flat-bed truck.

Eversource is working to repair the damage to the utility poles, and the NH DOT is working to repair the guardrail damage.

New Hampshire State Police are investigating the accident and say an initial investigation determined that a red Subaru Impreza became disabled for unknown mechanical reasons, in a lane of travel with its hazards illuminated.

The pick-up truck driving in the same lane was unable to avoid the disabled Subaru, striking it from behind. The truck then lost control, veered off the roadway, through the guardrail, and rolled multiple times, coming to rest down the embankment onto Hanover St. The operator of the pick-up truck:

State police are asking anyone who may have witnessed the incident to contact Trooper Ryan Hajjar at Ryan.J.Hajjar@dos.nh.gov or by voicemail at 603-223-8760.
©Jeffrey Hastings www.frameofmindphoto.com/news