RANDOLPH, NH : Deadly highway crash killing 7 bikers one of worst tragic incidents in New Hampshire on Saturday, 20th July 2019

Grief and a search for answers as to the cause of a rural highway crash involving a convoy of 10 motorcycles and a pickup truck gripped the scene of the horrific accident in this northern New Hampshire community Saturday.

Seven bikers, members of a Boston area motorcycle club for former U.S. Marines, were killed and three others injured, authorities said.

"It's tragic," said State Police Capt. Chris Vetter. “It's tragic for those involved, tragic for the families.”

The deadly crash occurred around 6:30 p.m. Friday on two-lane State Route 2 that winds through the White Mountains region of the state, said Colonel Christopher J. Wagner, commander of the New Hampshire State Police.

“This is one of the worst tragic incidents that we have investigated here in the state,” said Wagner at a Saturday afternoon press conference.

National Transportation Safety Board officials from Washington and New Hampshire Gov. Christopher Sununu also attended the press conference. NTSB safety experts said they are working with State Police and the Coos County Attorney’s Office in searching for answers to the tragedy.

Authorities said the motorcyclists, members of the Marine Jarheads MC biker club, were traveling east on the highway, headed for an American Legion function hall in nearby Gorham, New Hampshire, about three hours north of Boston.

The 2016 Dodge 2500 pickup with an attached flatbed trailer was traveling west. The driver was identified as Volodoymyr Zhukovskyy, 23, who was working for Westfield Transportation in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Coos County Attorney John McCormick said no charges have been filed so far in connection with the crash. He asked anyone with video, photographs, or information about the motorcycles or truck before the crash to come forward.

The truck was on fire and billowing smoke when first responders arrived on the scene. Wreckage from the motorcycles were scattered about the highway and grassy sidelines.

Identities of the victims and others involved in the accident were not immediately available. Two of the injured were taken to local Androscoggin Valley Hospital and released. The third was airlifted to Maine Medical Center in Portland, Maine, where he remained hospitalized.

Miranda Thompson, 21, of Manchester, New Hampshire, said she was just a short distance behind the vehicles when the crash happened and one of the first people on the scene.

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