A driver is dead after a vehicle went into the Merrimack River near Interstate 293 in Manchester on Friday morning.Police identified the driver as Juan Alonzo Perez Ramirez, 32, of Manchester.Just before 6 a.m. Friday, Manchester fire officials said they received a call from someone who said they witnessed a car cross the shoulder on I-293 North at Exit 4. The caller said that the car went into the Merrimack River.>> Download the free WMUR app to get updates on the go: Apple | Google Play <> Subscribe to WMUR’s YouTube channel <<
MANCHESTER, N.H. —
A driver is dead after a vehicle went into the Merrimack River near Interstate 293 in Manchester on Friday morning.
Police identified the driver as Juan Alonzo Perez Ramirez, 32, of Manchester.
Just before 6 a.m. Friday, Manchester fire officials said they received a call from someone who said they witnessed a car cross the shoulder on I-293 North at Exit 4. The caller said that the car went into the Merrimack River.
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Officials said the car was the only vehicle involved in the crash and Perez Ramirez was the only person inside.
Battalion Chief Kenneth Proulx, of the Manchester Fire Department, told WMUR the rescue effort was an all-hands-on-deck situation, involving more than a dozen first responders and water rescue team members.
Proulx said initially, first responders had a hard time finding the car.
“We were dispatched at 5:54 a.m. The person was extricated from the vehicle at 6:22. Of course, I was not there at the scene. I do know I was told that the driver’s side door was actually up against the log. There was a tree in the river. So, they did have some difficulty getting to him,” Proulx said.
Officials said when they got the driver out of the car, which was upside down in the water, he was unconscious. He was taken to a hospital but later was pronounced dead.
The cause of the crash is still unknown.
Anyone with information about the crash is asked to contact Trooper Alex Peplinski at 603-227-0076 or Alex.M.Peplinski@dos.nh.gov.