Sep. 4—BRISTOL — Two people were seriously injured after a garbage truck drove off the road into the Pequabuck River and lit on fire late Friday morning in Bristol, police said.

The commercial garbage truck lost control of its brakes, according to a Facebook post from the Bristol mayor's office. The two people were removed by rope from the river and taken to the hospital, authorities said in a news release.

Police said the garbage truck had been traveling on Willis Street when it drove through the parking lot of Bristol Arts and Innovation Magnet School, over Memorial Boulevard and into the river.

The two people in the truck freed themselves from the crash, and firefighters used a rope system to remove them 15 feet up and over the ledge, officials said.

Their conditions were not clear as of early Friday afternoon, according to police.

Memorial Boulevard has been closed to traffic, and the Bristol Police Department in a social media post also asked the public to avoid Riverside Avenue and South Street.

The state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection is at the scene to check on the condition of the truck's three natural gas tanks, police said. Crews are continuing to remove the truck from the river, and the state Department of Motor Vehicles truck squad has been asked to evaluate the vehicle, according to the release.

© 2026 The Hour (Norwalk, Conn.). Visit www.thehour.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.