4 dead in wrong-way car accident in Connecticut

CONNECTICUT – A driver driving the wrong way on Connecticut’s Merritt Parkway Thursday crashed head-on into a minivan, killing all four people in the vehicles and closing one side of the highway for nearly seven hours, state police said.

According to state police, around 1:45 a.m., an SUV was traveling northbound in the southbound lane when it collided with the minivan in Stratford and burst into flames.

Television news video of the aftermath showed a minivan with a smashed front end and a heavily damaged sport-utility vehicle lying on its side on the highway, also known as Route 15.

According to state police, all three people in the minivan were killed. They were identified as Steven P. Rowland, Thomas Lucian Vitale and Olga Vitale – all of Easton.

The SUV is registered to a resident of Massachusetts. The coroner’s office was working to identify the driver, who also died, authorities said.

The state Department of Transportation reported 13 wrong-way crashes in 2022, killing 23 people.

Preliminary data for 2023 showed five wrong-way crashes killed seven people, the DOT said, and in February of this year, a wrong-way crash on Interstate 95 in West Haven killed four people.

State authorities have installed warning systems on highway ramps that flash bright red lights to drivers going the wrong way. At some locations, systems also alert state police and traffic officials.

Associated Press Wire Services contributed to this report.