Massachusetts state police say a Toms River woman died in a crash on the Massachusetts Turnpike early Sunday morning involving a wrong-way driver who was arrested.

Area of the Massachusetts Turnpike where a Toms River woman was killed
Area of the Massachusetts Turnpike where a Toms River woman was killed by a wrong way driver (NECN)
loading...

Police in Charlton were notified at about 4:35 a.m. Sunday of a driver headed eastbound in westbound lanes. Police closed the highway between two exits roughly 10 miles apart but a cell phone caller reported a crash involving numerous vehicles.

The closed stretch of road was between exit 9 (I-290) and exit 10 (I-84), a portion used by many New Jersey visitors to Massachusetts.

State police say an unidentified 66-year-old woman from Toms River was dead at the scene.

Captain Eric Otterson of the Auburn Fire Department tells New England Cable News, "One vehicle was overturned and on fire, and there were two other vehicles involved, upon arrival of the crews they encountered one vehicle overturned fully involved in fire, another vehicle with someone heavily entrapped." He says rescue crews worked for over an hour to free that person.

The Mass Pike was closed for several hours Sunday morning while police conducted an investigation and the scene was cleared.

The wrong way driver is an unidentified 33-year-old man from Leominster. He was arrested and taken to UMass Medical Center in Worcester with non-life threatening injuries. The charges were not disclosed.

Tim Connolly, a spokesman from the Worcester County District Attorney’s office, tells the Boston Globe the involvement of alcohol in the crash "is still under investigation.”

At least one other person also was taken to an area hospital.

The Associated Press contributed to this story

More From 92.7 WOBM