Connecticut Firefighters Respond to Serious Crash

Aug. 15, 2007
A toddler and an adult were both seriously injured.

A 21-month-old child suffered life-threatening injuries after an August 12 car accident at Salem Four Corners in Connecticut. Anrudh Nagarajan was flown to Hartford Hospital via Life Star helicopter and was subsequently transferred to the Connecticut Children's Medical Center in Hartford.

Nagarajan was a passenger in a car driven by Rajesh Nagarajan, 29, of East Hartford. The vehicle was stopped at the traffic light on Route 85 northbound around 3:30 p.m., police said. When the light turned green, it followed behind a motorcycle making a left turn onto Route 82 west.

While in the intersection, the car was struck on the passenger side by a pickup truck traveling south on Route 85, driven by Christopher J. Kelly, 21, of Wolcott. Another passenger in Nagarajan's car, Gurulakshmi Jawaharlal, 24, also sustained serious injuries. Jawaharlal was listed today in fair condition at the William W. Backus Hospital.

Kelly and the truck passenger, Kaitlyn Rankowitz, 19, of 454 New London Road, Salem, were treated at the scene. A firefighter who happened to be nearby assisted on the scene. He said the child was partially in his car seat and was lying face down and unconscious over the vehicle's center console.

The child was carefully removed through the broken window .

The car accident shut down the intersection at Routes 85 and 82 for several hours. The accident remains under investigation.

The child died two days after the accident.

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