Police: 1 dead, 5 hurt in Portsmouth traffic circle crash early Thanksgiving morning
PORTSMOUTH — Police say a local 21-year-old woman died and five more were injured early Thursday morning, when a 2018 Porsche Macan rolled over in a single-vehicle accident at the junction of the Route 1 Bypass South and the city traffic circle.
The Porsche was operated by a 22-year-old man from Northwood, according to New Hampshire State Police, and the accident ocurred about 1:17 a.m.
The woman who died, police said, was Drew Ceppetelli, of Barrington, New Hampshire. She was a graduate of Coe-Brown Northwood Academy who was attending Salve Regina University, where she was a member of the softball team.
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The Porsche exited "the left side of the roadway onto a curbed divider, entered the travel portion of the traffic circle, and traveled into the grass median in the center of the traffic circle, causing the Porsche to overturn several times," police said, citing an initial investigation.
The driver and five more occupants were in the Porsche, police said, several of whom were ejected from the car. Portsmouth police officers who were nearby at the time of the crash, as well as a number of passing motorists, stopped to provide aid until emergency medical services arrived, police said.
Four of the occupants were transported to Portsmouth Regional Hospital while the driver and one other person were transported to Wentworth-Douglass Hospital for treatment of non-life threatening injuries.
Approximately five hours after the crash, one of the Porsche's occupants died at Portsmouth Regional Hospital, police said. Police did not immediately release the identities of the other injured occupants
Police said "excessive speed and impairment were identified as potential factors" in the crash, which remains under investigation.
The traffic circle was closed to motorists for approximately five hours, reopening at approximately 6:30 a.m., police said.
Numerous local and state agencies responded, including the Rockingham County attorney's office, according to police.
State Police ask anyone with information to contact Trooper First Class Nathaniel D. Goodwin by email at Nathaniel.D.Goodwin@DOS.NH.GOV or call state police at (603) 223-4381.
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Fatal crash at Portsmouth NH traffic circle early Thanksgiving morning
