Father of 4 killed when tractor-trailer crashed off overpass on Route 8 in Torrington

Mike Mavredakis, Hartford Courant
Updated ·1 min read

Police identified the tractor-trailer driver killed after his truck crashed off of an overpass over Route 8 in Torrington on Thursday morning.

Mahamadou Keita, 44, of Darby, Pennsylvania, sustained life-threatening injuries from the crash and was pronounced dead at the scene, the Torrington Police Department said Friday morning. Keita is survived by his wife and four children, police said.

Troopers from the Connecticut State Police received a report of a crash involving a tractor-trailer on Route 8 just north of Exit 45 in Torrington around 5 a.m. on Thursday. According to Torrington police, a tractor-trailer was traveling north on Hayden Hill Road when, for unknown reasons, the truck began running into numerous mailboxes as it approached the Greenwoods Road intersection. The truck struck a stop sign at the intersection and continued across Greenwoods Road and over the embankment dropping to the side of Route 8, police said.

Local police and fire personnel also responded to the scene, state police said. Emergency crews were unable to get to the tractor portion of the truck as the trailer had fallen on top of it, Torrington police said.

Based on evidence at the scene, speed and braking appear to be a factor in the crash, Torrington police said.

Route 8 North was closed between Exit 45 and 46 until 6 p.m. Thursday as the incident remained under investigation, police said.

The Torrington Police Department’s Accident Investigation Team is investigating the incident. Anyone with information or video footage of the crash is asked to contact police at 860-489-2000.