Fatal Crash Takes the Life of Chelsea Man

A Chelsea man lost his life in a fatal automobile accident on the General Edwards Bridge Monday morning, according to Revere Fire Chief Gene Doherty.

State Police announced late on Monday that the victim was Wayne Diggs, 50, of Chelsea. He had been driving a 2005 Dodge Ram northbound on Rt. 1A.

Fire officials from Lynn and Revere responded quickly around 7:30 a.m. on Monday and found the pickup truck severely crashed into the bridge and fully engulfed in flames.

The driver was not able to exit the vehicle and perished in either the fire or the crash.

“The person driving had either been killed in the crash or was unconscious,” said Doherty. “It appears the person never had a shot. It was a severe impact into the bridge. An entire two-foot section of the bridge mechanism was smashed inside the truck. The least bit of ice and cold and it’s a brutal bridge – especially in the morning commute.”

National Weather Service authorities had warned drivers Monday morning that there could be black ice on the roads and bridges could be slick.

Initially, it appears that, perhaps, a combination of speed and black ice conditions on the bridge contributed to the crash, which happened in the northbound lane.

The truck crashed into the bridge gate and the barrier on the bridge, and almost immediately caught fire.

Several witnesses made phone calls as black smoke poured off of the bridge. One witness on the scene was a district chief from the Lynn Fire Department, and he made a quick call to his work and Lynn Fire crews were shortly on the scene.

Revere Fire crews came not long afterward.

Initial reports were that there was no one in the car, but as firefighters moved in, they found the deceased man in the driver’s seat.

Fire crews moved the vehicle to the State Police Barracks in Revere and removed the man from the vehicle with the Jaws of Life.