Manhole cover crashes into windshield, killing driver

A police vehicle is parked in front of a manhole cover at the Thomas P. O’Neill Tunnel on Friday, Feb. 12, 2016, in Boston.
A police vehicle is parked in front of a manhole cover at the Thomas P. O’Neill Tunnel on Friday, Feb. 12, 2016, in Boston.

BOSTON — A manhole cover weighing more than 200 pounds crashed through a windshield, killing a woman as she drove on a major Boston highway during the Friday morning commute, authorities said.

The cover in the left lane of Interstate 93 south became dislodged and went airborne just before 8 a.m., state police spokesman David Procopio said.

The death prompted an inspection of hundreds of other manhole covers around the city.

After the cover struck the driver's windshield, her Honda SUV continued forward before striking a wall on the left shoulder of the highway and coming to a stop, he said.

It's unclear what caused the manhole cover to become dislodged. State police and state Department of Transportation officials are investigating.

The victim's name was being withheld until her family could be notified.

Two lanes of the highway were shut down during the investigation, backing up traffic.

In response to the death, state transportation workers were sent out to check about 500 manhole covers, grates and utility panels in the travel lanes of highways around the Boston area "out of an abundance of caution," Highway Administrator Thomas Tinlin said. He warned drivers to be prepared for lane closures during the inspections.

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