FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2018

Media contact: John Guilfoil
Email: john@jgpr.net
Phone: 617-993-0003

Andover Public Safety Officials Provide Update on Injured Residents

ANDOVER — Town Manager Andrew P. Flanagan, Police Chief/Emergency Management Director Patrick Keefe and Fire Chief Michael B. Mansfield are providing an update on Andover residents who were injured during the Merrimack Valley gas emergency.

Andover Fire Rescue treated 20 patients with various injuries from 4:20 pm to 11:59 p.m on Thursday, Sept. 13. Fourteen of those patients were transported to area hospitals. All 20 are expected to recover.

On Saturday, Sept, 15 at 8 a.m., Andover Fire Rescue responded to medical alert alarm at a Railroad Street home. Upon arrival, rescuers found an elderly male resident who had fallen in his bathroom. An on-scene evaluation indicated that the 88-year-old man had fallen in the dark during the night, and the medical alert was activated Saturday morning.

The residence did not have electricity because of the ongoing gas incident.

The victim sustained serious head and face trauma and was transported to Lawrence General Hospital. Andover Public Safety officials are unaware of his condition at this time.

On Sunday, Sept. 16 at 3:10 p.m., Andover Police and Fire Department responded to a home on Shawsheen Road for a report of an unresponsive woman with head trauma.

Upon arrival, rescuers were met by the victim’s housemate who had been away from the residence since Thursday. While he was away, he reportedly made numerous attempts to call her with no response. When he arrived home he found her in bed with a serious head wound. She was unresponsive.

The victim, a 55-year-old woman, was transported by Andover Fire Rescue to Lawrence General Hospital. She was later transferred by medical helicopter to a Boston hospital.

A preliminary investigation indicates that the victim fell down a flight of stairs and struck her head.

A still lit flashlight was found at the bottom of the stairs where the fall apparently occurred.  The residence did not have electricity because of the ongoing gas incident at the time.  It is believed that she fell sometime during the previous night and found her way back to her bedroom and lost consciousness.

The victim is in critical condition.

This incident is under investigation by the Andover Police Department and State Police Detectives assigned to the Essex County District Attorney’s Office.

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