Route 3 crash involves five cars, 10 people
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| The Mazda 3 (right) driven by Dr. Victor Tricarico of Providence Forge collided head-on with a 2008 Nissan (left) driven by Dawn Marie Russell of Kilmarnock. Dr. Tricarico was flown by helicopter to MCV following the 4 p.m. crash Sunday on Route 3 at Topping. (Photo courtesy of the Hartfield Volunteer Fire Department) |
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| After the blue Toyota SUV (right) driven by Ellen Bongieux of Sandston collided with Dr. Tricarico’s Mazda, the SUV ran head-on into a Nissan 4-door sedan (left) driven by Sharida Waller of Newport News, which had four unrestrained children as passengers. A passenger in the SUV was flown by helicopter from the scene to a hospital. Two of the children were transported to Riverside Walter Reed Hospital in Gloucester and then airlifted to MCV in Richmond. (Photo courtesy of the Hartfield Volunteer Fire Department) |
One of the worst vehicle crashes in memory in Middlesex County sent 10 people to hospitals at about 4 p.m. Sunday, March 21.
Five cars were involved in two head-on crashes in chain-reaction accidents on Route 3 at Topping, just south of the Robert O. Norris Jr. Bridge, said Virginia State Trooper T. E. Hudson.
“I don’t know how somebody didn’t get killed. It’s a wonder,” said Alan Blake, captain of the Hartfield Volunteer Fire Department. “This is probably the worst crash I’ve been involved in.”
Blake has been a firefighter for 28 years.
On Monday, the extent of the injuries was unknown.
Three victims were flown by helicopter to MCV in Richmond and one was flown to Norfolk General Hospital, said Wayne Evans, an officer with the Middlesex County Volunteer Rescue Squad (MCVRS) of Deltaville, who was the on-scene medical coordinator.
The multiple injuries were declared “a mass casualty” by Evans. “Anytime the resources of the community are overwhelmed, it is a mass casualty,” he said.
Area rescue squads from Urbanna and Lancaster assisted the MCVRS at the crash scene, as did five medical professionals who were passing by.
The crash occurred on a straight section of Route 3 about .3 mile north of the Pilot House Restaurant at Topping.
According to Trooper Hudson, the crashes started when a Mazda 3 driven Dr. Victor Tricarico, 61, of Providence Forge drifted across the center line and struck an oncoming Toyota SUV driven by Ellen Bongieux, 59, of Sandston.
The impact forced the Toyota into another head-on collision with a Nissan 4-door sedan driven by Sharida Waller of Newport News, said Trooper Hudson. The Nissan had four unrestrained children as passengers.
After the initial impact, Dr. Tricarico’s car sideswiped a 2007 Toyota, driven by Tara Dabney of Richmond, and then collided head-on with a 2008 Nissan 4-door, driven by Dawn Marie Russell of Kilmarnock, said Trooper Hudson.
Flown from the scene by helicopter were Dr. Tricarico and Linda Johnson, 61, who was a passenger in the Toyota SUV driven by Bongieux. Dr. Tricarico was flown to MCV and Johnson was flown to Riverside Regional Hospital in Newport News. Two children were first transported to Riverside Walter Reed in Gloucester and later flown to MCV by helicopter.
Charges are pending, said Trooper Hudson on Monday.
A State Police reconstruction team investigated the crash Sunday evening.
For more details, see the March 25 issue of the Southside Sentinel.
