The Latest on a deadly crash between a pickup truck and several motorcycles in New Hampshire (all times local):
3:15 p.m.
New Hampshire officials have released the names of the seven people killed when a truck collided with a group of motorcyclists on a rural highway.
The state attorney general’s office says all the victims died from blunt force trauma.
Four of the deceased bikers were from New Hampshire, two were from Massachusetts and one was from Rhode Island. They were identified as Michael Ferazzi, 62; Albert Mazza, 49; Daniel Pereira, 58; Joanne and Edward Corr, both 58 years old; Desma Oakes, 42, Aaron Perry, 45.
The victims were part of a motorcycle club for Marines.
New Hampshire State Police said Friday’s accident happened when a pickup truck pulling a trailer collided with the riders on U.S. 2, a two-lane highway in Randolph, New Hampshire. The cause of the deadly collision is not yet known.
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2:50 p.m.
A man who identified himself as the father of the truck driver involved in a deadly New Hampshire crash says his son is cooperating with an investigation into the tragedy.
Investigators have identified the driver of a pickup truck involved in the Friday evening crash as 23-year-old Volodoymyr Zhukovskyy, an employee of a Springfield, Massachusetts-area transportation company.
A reporter reached a man by phone Sunday at a listing for Zhukovskyy.
The man who answered identified himself as Zhukovskyy’s father and said his son is cooperating with authorities back in Massachusetts. The man declined to comment further.
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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.
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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.
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Whittle reported from Portland, Maine. Associated Press writer David Sharp in Portland contributed to this report.
