The Latest on a deadly crash between a pickup truck and several motorcycles in New Hampshire (all times local): (all times local):
12:30 p.m.
Hundreds of motorcyclists are gathering for a “Blessing of the Bikes” ceremony in northern New Hampshire in the wake of a deadly crash that killed seven people.
While such ceremonies are periodically held, the Sunday event in Columbia, New Hampshire, held special meaning for the motorcycle community. Bikers and veterans are reeling from the crash, in which a pickup truck towing a flatbed trailer collided with a group of 10 motorcycles Friday evening.
Laura Cardinal, vice president of the Manchester Motorcycle Club, says “when they fall, we all fall.”
She says the biker community is pledging to help the families of the victims, who have yet to be identified by authorities.
———
1:35 a.m.
Motorcyclists and military veterans are mourning seven members of a motorcycle club that includes Marines and their spouses who were killed in a collision with a pickup truck on a rural highway.
Authorities say they may begin publicly identifying victims of Friday’s crash in remote northern New Hampshire as early as Sunday. In addition to the seven dead, state police say three others were hospitalized. Two have since been released.
Investigators identified the driver of the pickup truck as Volodoymyr Zhukovskyy, a 23-year-old employee of a Massachusetts transportation company. Authorities say he has not been charged, but haven’t addressed details on his whereabouts.
New Hampshire State Police Col. Chris Wagner called the crash “one of the worst tragic incidents” investigated in New Hampshire.
———
Whittle reported from Portland, Maine. Associated Press writer David Sharp in Portland contributed to this report.
