Five hospitalized after chain-reaction crash in East Bridgewater

Two crashes, five cars damaged, five people hospitalized and a messy morning commute - all the result of an accident Route 18 in East Bridgewater Friday morning.

The first accident happened near 600 North Bedford St. at about 8:30 a.m.A man driving southbound apparently crossed the center line and struck a car coming north, according to Acting Fire Chief Tim Harren.

The driver of the southbound car was removed from the car using the Jaws of Life, Harren said.

He was taken to South Shore Hospital and his female passenger was taken to Brockton Hospital, both by East Bridgewater ambulances.
A West Bridgewater ambulance took the driver of the northbound car to the Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton.

A few moments after the initial accident, a chain-reaction crash took place when a driver headed north didn’t realize the two cars in front of him had stopped, Harren said.A Whitman ambulance took two more people to Brockton Hospital as a result of that accident.

Names of the victims were not released but Harren said none of the injuries were life-threatening. The scene took about a half hour to clear and slowed commuter traffic on Route 18.