Rhode Island man killed in fiery crash on I-495 in Plainville

Police are investigating a fiery early morning crash on I-495 in Plainville that left a 23-year-old Rhode Island man dead. 

Troopers responded around 3:45 a.m. to reports of a vehicle and brush fire along the roadway. At the scene, they found a 2008 BMW down an embankment in the center median, submerged in several feet of water with the driver’s side engulfed in flames, according to state police. Two troopers jumped down the embankment, finding the driver of the vehicle, later identified as 23-year-old Sage A. Woodward of Pawtucket, Rhode Island, facedown in water on the passenger side of the car. 

The troopers pulled Woodward out of the vehicle and up the embankment with the help of two Good Samaritans who stopped at the scene. They attempted CPR on the 23-year-old until EMS arrived on the scene and he was taken to Sturdy Memorial Hospital in Attleboro.

Woodward was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at the hospital. 

Police said one of the troopers was also treated for a laceration to his hand suffered at the crash scene. 

The initial investigation indicates that the BMW driven by the 23-year-old struck the guardrail on the right side of the road, causing it to veer across all three travel lanes into the center median. 

The crash remains under investigation, police said.