Above: A map of four recent crashes on Route 28.
Two serious car crashes occurred within hours of each other on Tuesday, Aug. 25 on a stretch of Route 28 in the Ulster County towns of Olive and Shandaken that has already seen multiple collisions this summer.
The first crash was a head-on collision that injured three people, one critically, according to Rich Muellerleile, the chief of the Shandaken Ambulance Service, which assisted at the scene.
The crash, which occurred at 7:30 a.m. in the hamlet of Shokan near Route 28's intersection with Dancing Rock Road, was a head-on collision that "heavily entrapped" one person in a vehicle, Muellerleile said.
"The trapped patient was extricated by the Olive Fire Department and transported to the Healthalliance Broadway Campus in critical condition," he said in a Facebook message today.
Two other people sustained non-life-threatening injuries, and one was transported for medical treatment while another refused medical attention. Route 28 was closed for about three hours after the crash, Mullerleile said.
The Olive Fire Department, and Olive First Aid Unit were dispatched to the scene, and were assisted by Woodstock and Shandaken ambulance companies, the Ulster County Sheriff's Office and the New York State Police.
State Police Captain Robert Nuzzo told the Daily Freeman today that one person died in the first crash.
Captain Nuzzo called us this to confirm the death and to say that no names are being released at this time, but that anyone who witnessed the crash should contact the New York State Police in Kingston at 845-388-1702.
Hours after Route 28 re-opened, reports of a second serious crash came over the police scanner, according to the Ulster County Fire/Rescue Incidents Facebook page, which monitors scanner traffic.
This second crash reportedly occurred at the intersection of Route 28 and Route 214 in the hamlet of Phoenicia in Shandaken, about 9 miles away from the location of the first crash. The crash happened at 1 p.m. and required a helicopter evacuation, according to the scanner. The Olive Fire Department reportedly responded to this crash as well.
Detective Fred Holland of the Shandaken Police Department confirmed on Wednesday, Aug. 26 that the second accident took place at 12:56 p.m., when the driver of a vehicle left the roadway and crashed in the woods. A helicopter landed in Phoenicia's Parish Field and transported one person to Albany Medical Center, Holland said.
Telecom phone service was also out in this area of the Catskills on Tuesday, Aug. 25. Calls to various phone numbers in Phoenicia and Mount Tremper did not go through this morning. Reached by phone around noon, Tony Lanza, the chief operating officer of the Emerson Spa and Resort, which is located on Route 28 between the sites of today's two crashes, said that phones at the Emerson had been down this morning.
"Phones went down at the same time as the [morning] crash," Lanza said.
Previous coverage:
Two crashes on same stretch of Route 28 in one week, August 10, 2015
