Tractor Trailer Carrying Lumber Overturns In Portsmouth

PORTSMOUTH, NH — A Canadian man escaped injury Sunday night after a tractor trailer he was driving overturned near Exit 5 on Interstate 95 in Portsmouth. Police say that 62-year-old Robert Ross of New Brunskick, Canada, was driving a flatbed trailer loaded with lumber when he lost control of the vehicle around 9:37 p.m. The vehicle struck a center median guardrail, causing it to overturn, State Police say.

The overturned tractor trailer blocked all lanes of traffic on I-95 South near Exit 5, and the load of lumber also separated from the trailer, scattering along the roadway and the nearby grass median, police say. The affected portion of the interstate was closed to traffic for about six hours while the tractor trailer and the cargo were being recovered, according to police.

No other vehicles were involved, and Ross was not injured, State Police say. After an investigation, police determined that Ross had lost control of the vehicle due to intense coughing.

Responding to the scene on Sunday night were members of State Police Troop A, State Police Troop G, New Hampshire Department of Transportation, the Portsmouth Police Department, the Portsmouth Fire Department and National Wrecker Service.

Anyone with further information regarding the incident is asked to call the State Police at 603-679-3333 or email Geoffrey.Miller@dos.nh.gov.