A small sedan collided with the rear of a flatbed wrecker on Thursday morning, severely injuring one person.

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Update at 5:37 p.m.: Ethan Piaggi-Cornell of Pittsfield, 23, was killed in Thursday morning's accident in Adams.

Piaggi-Cornell was driving a 2001 Hyundai Sonata north when he collided with a stopped flatbed tow truck on Howland Avenue in Adams at around 11:15 a.m.

Initial reports were that he was taken elsewhere by Life Flight but district attorney's office states he was pronounced dead at Berkshire Medical Center.

The body was taken to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Holyoke, where an autopsy will be conducted.

Piaggi-Cornell was a 2012 graduate of Hoosac Valley High School. He was most recently employed as a line cook by Arizona Pizza in Pittsfield, according to his Facebook page.

The investigation is being conducted by members of the Adams Police Department, the Berkshire Detective Unit of the State Police assigned to the district attorney's office, the Massachusetts State Police Collision Analysis Reconstruction and Commercial Vehicle Enforcement sections.
 

ADAMS, Mass. — A motorist sustained serious injuries after his car collided with a flatbed wrecker on Howland Avenue late Thursday morning.

The northbound Sayers wrecker, with a car on the flatbed, was in the left lane to turn into Gene's Sales and Service when the small Sonata sedan collided with its rear bumper.

"It appears that the wrecker was stopped to make a lefthand turn when it was struck from the rear by the white Sonata, which was operated by a single person," said Police Richard Tarsa shortly before 1 p.m.. "Upon impact, the operator sustained severe injuries including massive head trauma."

Tarsa said the driver was taken to Berkshire Medical Center's North Adams campus and Life-Flighted from there. He was not sure at that point where the individual was taken. The driver of the wrecker was not injured.

The car suffered severe damage to its front driver's side, where it collided with the flatbed. The area was taped off and traffic was detoured over East Road between Lime Street and Hodges Cross Road for more than two hours.

The investigation is in the early stages, Tarsa said. "There are witnesses and we are gathering that information."

The state police Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Section and members of the Berkshire County Law Enforcement Task Force were assisting Adams Police.