Updated- 5:20 p.m.: Riverhead Police have identified the man killed in the crash this morning on Sound Avenue as Salvatore Pinello. Police did not provide his age or place of residence.
Police said Pinello was operating a 2000 Chevrolet pickup truck, towing an enclosed trailer when his vehicle and trailer overturned and burst into flames. His passenger, Salvatore Martino, whose age and place of residence was also nor disclosed, was able to escape from the vehicle before it caught fire, police said.
The vehicle was fully engulfed when police responded to a 9:05 a.m. 911 call, according to a press release issued by police late this afternoon. Pinello was trapped inside, police said.
The Riverhead Fire Department responded and extinguished the fire. The Riverhead Detective Division responded to investigate the crash. The New York State Accident Reconstruction Team and the Suffolk County Police Department Emergency Services Division also responded to assist with the investigation, police said in the release.
The investigation is ongoing. Police ask anyone who may have witnessed the accident to contact the Riverhead Police Department at 631-727-4500. All calls will remain confidential, police said.
Original story:
One person was killed and another injured this morning after a landscaping truck on Sound Ave. flipped over and burst into flames, according to police.
No other vehicles were involved in the crash, which occurred between Roanoke and Horton Avenues.
A pickup truck towing a landscaping trailer was traveling down Sound Ave. just before 9:15 a.m. when it flipped over and burst into flames, according to witnesses.
The truck and trailer were both fully engulfed when police and fire officials arrived.
The driver was trapped in the truck and died, according to officials on scene. Aside from the driver, the truck had one other passenger, who escaped from the burning truck with injuries but refused transport to the hospital, officials said.
The cause of the crash was not immediately clear.
Sound Avenue will be closed in both directions between Roanoke and Horton Avenues for most of the day as the state’s collision reconstruction unit conducts an investigation.
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