Victims named in New Hampshire motorcycle crash that killed seven

[June 24, 2019]    (Reuters) - New Hampshire authorities on Sunday named the seven people killed two days earlier when a pickup truck crashed into members of a motorcycle club for U.S. Marine veterans.

State investigators who raced to the scene of Friday's accident near the White Mountain National Forest described it as the worst they had ever seen.

The victims, identified as five men and two women between the ages of 42 and 62, died of blunt trauma, New Hampshire's deputy attorney general, Jane Young, said in a statement.

Three other people were injured, two of whom have since been treated and released from hospital, state police said.

The truck driver was identified but not arrested after his vehicle hauling a trailer hit at least 10 motorcycles near the town of Randolph.

The National Transportation Safety Board said on Saturday that it was sending a team to the site to conduct a safety investigation and work with local authorities, who are doing their own investigation.

Officials said the victims were associated with the Jarheads Motorcycle Club, which is mostly made up of Marine Corp veterans and their relatives.

The club had a regional meeting scheduled for Friday and Saturday in Rollinsford, New Hampshire, about 100 miles (160 km) south of the crash site, according to its website.

(Reporting by Gabriella Borter in New York; Editing by Daniel Wallis)

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