Two of the three occupants were thrown from the vehicle, and police are not yet sure which of the three was driving.
This is an update of a story that was originally posted at 8:12 a.m.
WESTFIELD – A 23-year-old city man was killed and two others injured in a one-car accident at about 12:15 a.m. Wednesday in the area of 866 North Road near Hampton Ponds, police said.
The fatality is the third traffic-related death in Westfield in a week.
Police said two men from the North Road accident were taken by ambulance to Baystate Medical Center, while a third was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.
Police were not releasing the names of the deceased pending notification of his family.
The names, hometowns and ages of the two injured were also not disclosed. They are considered in serious and stable condition at Baystate, according to police.
The deceased man and one of the injured men were each thrown from the car in the crash, police said. The third man was found inside the wreckage.
The cause of the accident is unknown, but police said speed was a likely factor.
Traffic Sgt. Edward Murphy said it is not yet know which of the three was driving the car. It is also not clear if any of the three were wearing seat belts.
Murphy said the car was heading west on Route 202, also known as North Road, when it apparently went out of control. It crossed over to the eastbound lane, struck a guardrail, came back into the westbound lane and then off the roadway.
The car came to rest on a dirt pile near the construction site for an expansion at the church, he said. Police closed that section of the roadway for about 4½ hours while they investigated the crash.
A state police accident reconstruction unit is assisting in the investigation.
Murphy said that stretch of roadway is not known for being particularly dangerous. “It’s a pretty straight road,” he said. Westfield police are continuing to investigate two other recent accidents that resulted in the loss of life.
A three-vehicle crash April 20 on Route 20 and East Mountain Road took the life 78-year-old Antoinette Stark, of 330 Rock Valley Road, Holyoke.
Murphy said that the Route 20 crash remains under investigation and that charges have not been filed.
Also 18-year-old driver Vincent Caputo died April 22 from injuries suffered in an early morning crash on April 16 near 20 Cross St.
The accident is still under investigation. Police said the vehicle was traveling north on Cross Street when it went out of control and hit a tree and fence on the other side of the road.
Caputo’s passenger, Anthony Gay, 18, of Westfield, has been treated and released from Baystate Medical Center, according to a hospital spokesman.
Republican reporters George Graham and Lori Stabile contributed to this report
View Three fatal traffic accidents in Westfield in a larger map