Emergency workers on scene of a tanker truck that overturned on Interstate 91 North around noon on Wednesday just before the parking area and Exit 24. The crash closed both northbound and southbound lanes.  
Emergency workers on scene of a tanker truck that overturned on Interstate 91 North around noon on Wednesday just before the parking area and Exit 24. The crash closed both northbound and southbound lanes.   Credit: — RECORDER STAFF/PAUL FRANZ

By RECORDER STAFF

WHATELY — The male victim in Wednesday afternoon’s fatal crash on I-91 in Whately has been identified as Jody Crosby, 47, of Seymour, Connecticut. 

Massachusetts State Police responded yesterday around noon to a tractor trailer rollover in the northbound lanes, near the Whately rest stop, which claimed the life of the driver.

State Trooper Amy Maclean said the driver was operating a 2018 Freightliner tractor trailer, which was pulling a tanker with gasoline, and was traveling northbound on I-91 when the operator lost control of the vehicle, causing it to travel off the right side of the road and rollover.

Travel on the interstate in the area of the crash had been down to one lane of travel for several miles due to construction when the crash occurred.

According to state police, Crosby — the operator and sole occupant of the truck — was pronounced dead at the scene. The cause of the crash remains under investigation.

State police were assisted at the scene by Whately Fire and EMS, a regional hazmat team, Westover Fire, the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, Mass DOT and the state Medical Examiner’s Office.