EDITOR'S NOTE: Traffic was reopened as of 3:05 p.m.

 

Bridgeport emergency service personnel swarmed to the scene of a head-on collision on U.S. Route 50 East, just past the Alfred Complex shortly after noon today. The Bridgeport Fire Department and Police were on the scene of what turned out to be very serious accident that involved entrapment.

 

The accident involved a silver Pontiac Grand Prix and a silver GMC 4x4 pickup truck. Fire Captain Phil Hart said a passenger in the Grand Prix was facing life-threatening injuries. Hart said the initial hope was to have the passenger flown to Ruby Memorial Hospital, but that weather conditions prevented that.

 

“The passenger is being taken directly to Ruby Memorial (by ambulance),” Hart said.

 

The other passenger in the Grand Prix was entrapped to the point where Bridgeport Fire Department personnel had managed to free that individual using the Jaws of Life device. Those were the only passengers in the Grand Prix, while the driver of the truck signed off on medical transport.

 

Bridgeport Police Officer M.P. Hammond said the investigation is continuing on the case. He was able to provide basic information as to the accident.

 

“The (Grand Prix) was traveling East bound on Route 50 and at some point the driver crossed the center line and collided head on with the truck … We have eyewitnesses that were able to provide that information. As to the how and why of what happened, it’s being left up the officers doing the accident reconstruction,” said Hammond.

 

Hammond said the driver of the Grand Prix was an elderly man and his wife, both from Taylor County. Hammond said the wife was also elderly. Both had to be removed by the Bridgeport Fire Department, Hammond said, the latter – as mentioned above – with the Jaws of Life. The male driver of the truck “suffered just minor injuries,” Hammond said.

 

According to Hammond, he said the male driver of the Grand Prix was the one transported to UHC. He said officials there were considering transporting him to Ruby Memorial and that his condition was potentially life threatening as well.

 

The elderly couple had a dog with them in their vehicle, but Hammond and Phil Hart said the animal was totally unharmed. The dog was taken by Bridgeport Police, said Hart, and eventually to Harrison County officials at the area shelter to handle it until family can claim it.

 

The collision left both vehicles in opposite lanes of U.S. Route 50. Because of that, traffic was backed up in both directions and Bridgeport Police shut down Route 50 from the intersections of Route 76 and just past Route 131. Traffic finally was reopened at 3:05 p.m., according to Laura Pysz, the city's coordinator of emergency services. Pysz said the accident reconstruction is what led to the section of Route 50 being closed for longer than is usually the case after accidents. Hammond said traffic was routed around that section of U.S. Route 50 using Route 131 and Route 279.

 

If more information becomes available, we'll share it with you on Connect-Bridgeport.