Public Safety

February 06. 2013 8:55AM

Names of drivers killed in Alton crash released

By DAN SEUFERT
Union Leader Correspondent

One of the vehicles involved in Tuesday evening's crash in Alton. (Dan Seufert/Union Leader Correspondent)

ALTON – Police have identified the two victims of what Police Chief Ryan Heath called a "horrific" head-on collision on Route 28 late Tuesday afternoon that killed both drivers and two dogs in one of the driver’s cars.

Heath said Ferenc Nagy, 50, of Gilmanton was driving his Chevrolet pickup truck southbound when it struck a Chevrolet Impala headed northbound and driven by Mary Lovasco, 54, of the Mirror Lake area of Tuftonboro.

"The vehicles collided head-on near the center line killing both operators and Lovasco’s two dogs in the back seat," Heath said in a press release Wednesday afternoon. "Upon arrival of the first responders, it was determined that all parties involved were killed in the crash."

An accident reconstruction team found that "the area of impact was just over the center line into the southbound lane," he said. Extensive damage to both vehicles forced emergency crews to use extraction tools to free the victims from the wreckage.

The collision happened about 5:05 p.m. on Route 28, near its intersection with Quarry Road. Heath said the drivers were traveling at least the 55 mph speed limit. There is no indication either slowed before the impact, he said.

"There was no evidence of braking by either driver," Heath said Tuesday night. "I’ve never seen an impact like that before."

Neither vehicle had any other passengers, he said. "If there had been passengers in either vehicle, they wouldn’t have survived," Heath said.

A two-mile stretch of Route 28 was closed for more than four hours Tuesday night as a traffic reconstruction team did its work. Traffic was re-routed while the road was shut down. Assisting Alton police were the Alton and Wolfeboro fire departments, the Gilmanton police department, the state’s Department of Transportation, and the Belknap Regional Traffic Reconstruction Team.

Previous story follows:

ALTON — Two people died in a violent head-on crash on Route 28 Tuesday night.

Police Chief Ryan Heath said a Chevrolet Impala and a Chevrolet pickup were heading in opposite directions when the collision happened about 5:05 p.m. on Route 28, near its intersection with Quarry Road.

Heath said the drivers were traveling at least the 55 mph speed limit. There is no indication either slowed before the impact, he said.

"One crossed the lane and hit the other head-on," Heath said. "I've never seen an impact like that before."

Heath did not have the names of the drivers, but said they are between 45 and 55.

The Impala driver, a female, is from Tuftonboro; the pickup driver, a male, is from Gilmanton. Two dogs in the woman's vehicle died.

Neither vehicle had any other passengers, he said.

"If there had been passengers in either vehicle, they wouldn't have survived," Heath said.

A two-mile stretch of Route 28 was closed for more than four hours Tuesday night as a traffic reconstruction team did its work. Traffic was re-routed while the road was shut down.

dseufert@newstote.com