2 Killed In Boston After Their Pickup Hits A Car, Goes Into Charles River

Massachusetts State Police said two Rhode Island residents pulled from a pickup truck that plunged into the Charles River off Route 28 in Boston have died.

Police responded about 6:40 p.m. Saturday and found the truck fully submerged in the water near Leverett Circle. The two occupants, a man and a woman, were removed and taken to Massachusetts General Hospital, where they died.

Police identified the two as 36-year-old Brian Arcand of North Smithfield and 36-year-old Rebecca Smith of Providence.

Investigators say the 2010 Toyota Tacoma pickup truck was traveling on Nashua Street in Boston, ran through a red light, and then side-swiped a 2008 Acura MDX that was traveling north in the circle.

The pickup then left Route 28 — also known as Charles River Dam Road — and entered the water on the east side of the northbound travel lanes of the road, across from the State Police barracks.

Dozens of police officers and other first responders arrived at the scene. Arcand and Smith were extricated from the truck and taken to the hospital.

Police said the State Police Marine Unit, State Police Dive Team, and divers from Boston and Cambridge Fire Departments continued to search the waters and determined that no one else was in the Toyota at the time of the crash.

The driver of the Acura, a 35-year-old woman from Milton, Massachusetts, and her passenger, a 36-year-old woman from New York, were both uninjured in the crash, according to investigators.

Leverett Circle was closed for several hours before being reopened to traffic.

The cause of the crash remains under investigation.