Thursday, December 16, 1999 Older Editions

Local woman dies in accident

State police are still investigating a Friday evening accident on Interstate 495 South that claimed the life of Andover's 24-year-old Amanda Holmes.

Trooper Sharon Costine says the 1993 graduate of Andover High was involved in a five-car accident in which the cars hit each other at different angles.

Amanda Holmes

Holmes had apparently gotten out of her Honda Civic to access the damage to her car when she was struck by a 1996 Mercury Mystique.

"She was standing next to her vehicle in the high-speed lane," says Costine.

Costine says Holmes was transported to the hospital, and that no one else was seriously injured in the accident.

Andover firefighter Keith Weightman was at the hospital when Holmes' ambulance arrived.

"When they brought her in, you could see it was a young woman and they were doing CPR. It's always tough when you see someone so young," he says. "They were going to bring in the helicopter, but then the doctors pronounced her."

Trooper Costine says 495 was closed for almost two and a half hours after the 8 p.m. accident that fatally injured Holmes because state police needed to reconstruct the accident. She says state police are still investigating the incident, but that no charges are pending.

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Holmes' obituary appears on page 28.