Truck goes in river, rescuers jump in to help

TILTON — The driver of a truck that plunged into the Winnipesaukee River in downtown Tilton on Monday morning was helped out of the partially submerged lawn maintenance company truck by two men who came to his assistance before rescue workers arrived.

Pete Keefe of Franklin, who was working on the chimney at the Northfield Freight Station just across the river from where the truck went into the water, said one man jumped into the water — which was three to four feet deep — and helped the driver get out of the passenger-side window.

Keefe said another man slid down the guardrail that had been taken out by the truck, jumped into the river, and assisted the first man in getting to the driver so he could stand on the side of the overturned truck.

The driver of the TruGreen truck, which was loaded with lawn fertilizer and towing a trailer with a machine used in spreading the fertilizer, was taken by ambulance to Franklin Regional Hospital, according to Tilton-Northfield Fire Chief Michael Sitar.

The driver was not identified by Tilton Police, who said that the 8:56 a.m., accident was still being investigated in cooperation with New Hampshire State Police.

Sitar said the truck belonged to TruGreen of Londonderry and was making a left turn onto Main Street after crossing the Park Street bridge over the Winnipesaukee River from Northfield into Tilton.

He said he knew that at least one person had helped the driver get out of the truck but didn’t know who the person is.

Keefe said it appeared as if the driver had continued the left turn after getting onto Main Street and that the truck plunged directly into the river, taking the fencing and guardrail down as it plunged about eight feet.

He said police told him that the driver of the truck may have had some kind of medical problem, such as diabetes, and that prior to the accident, there had been calls placed to State Police about a TruGreen truck northbound on Interstate 93 being operated in an erratic manner.

A woman who declined to give her name said she saw the immediate aftermath of the accident and that, like Keefe, saw two men enter the water to assist the driver.

She said she ran to see if her paramedic skills were needed but, once she saw the driver, who appeared to have a small cut on his forehead, she realized that he was in good condition.

Keefe said that he saw lots of bags of fertilizer go into the river and Sitar confirmed that.

He said the fertilizer is mostly nitrogen and potash and didn’t know how many bags ended up in the river.

Traffic was rerouted around the area for more than four hours following the accident.