Two Massachusetts men were killed Thursday in a head-on crash on Interstate 295 in Rhode Island, according to state police.
Troopers responded around 3:31 p.m. to a report of a multi-vehicle crash on I-295 North near the Mendon Road overpass.
Investigators said a Hyundai Ioniq was traveling recklessly and at high speed, with witnesses reporting that the vehicle passed other cars through the grassy median on the southbound side. The Hyundai then veered into the median, struck the center guardrail and crossed into the northbound lanes, where it collided head-on with a Dodge Ram 1500.
The force of the crash sent the Dodge onto its passenger side and caused it to sideswipe an Acura ADX in the right breakdown lane. Both the Dodge and Hyundai came to rest in the left lane.
The drivers of both vehicles were trapped. Fire and rescue crews freed them before the Hyundai, which had begun smoldering, became fully engulfed in flames.
The Hyundai driver, 29-year-old Joel Costa of Hyde Park, Massachusetts, was pronounced dead at the scene. The Dodge driver, 44-year-old Jonathan Welch of Norton, Massachusetts, was taken to Rhode Island Hospital, where he later died.
Police said neither driver was wearing a seat belt.
The crash remains under investigation.
