MBTA trolley, flatbed collide; 4 hurt

Four people suffered neck and back injuries yesterday when an inbound Green Line trolley collided with a flatbed truck that was taking a left across the tracks near Coolidge Corner, an MBTA spokeswoman said.

The driver of the truck and three passengers on the trolley were taken by ambulance to hospitals and treated for minor injuries, said Lydia Rivera, a spokeswoman for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. The names of the injured passengers were not released.

The truck driver was identified as Thomas Markovich of East Hampstead, N.H. He was cited for failing to yield and fined $50, Rivera said.

The collision at 6:45 a.m. flipped the truck on its side across the tracks on Beacon Street, blocking inbound and outbound trolleys on the C branch of the Green Line for almost three hours. Jeff Egnaczyk, 26, a programmer who commutes from Brookline to Natick, was sitting on a bench reading and waiting for the T. "I heard this big boom and looked up and saw the truck falling on its side," said Egnaczyk.

The trolley was traveling about 10 miles per hour with 200 passengers, Rivera said. They were bused to the next stop. The force of the crash broke the truck's windshield and spilled fuel onto the street.

The crash remains under investigation, Rivera said.

The truck belongs to Rebars & Mesh Inc., a Haverhill steel and concrete company. "We are happy that the driver is OK and was released from the hospital," said a woman who answered the phone but declined to give her name.

In a separate crash, six passengers and a driver received treatment for minor injuries yesterday afternoon when an MBTA bus traveling from Watertown hit a wall as it exited Interstate 90 in downtown Boston. The 1:45 p.m. accident, which closed Exit 22 for about an hour, remains under investigation, Rivera said.

ANDREW RYAN