NORTHFIELD — Seven people were taken to area hospitals after an SUV collided with at least five motorcycles Sunday afternoon near the intersection of Route 63 and Route 10 past the boat ramp and Thomas Aquinas College.

According to Gill Deputy Fire Chief and police officer William Kimball, Northfield Police received a call at 1:03 p.m. reporting a crash between a single vehicle and five motorcycles. Out of seven total patients, five were transported on the ground to area hospitals and two were airlifted, despite air response consisting of three helicopters, Kimball said. The male driver of the SUV was taken into custody by Northfield Police Department.

The incident remains under investigation by Northfield Police, Massachusetts State Police and the Northwestern District Attorney’s office. Kimball would not discuss the conditions of those involved in the crash, referring further questions to the district attorney’s office.

Residents who live nearby and the initial 911 callers, John and Terri Drisdelle, said the crash appeared severe. John Drisdelle said they went to see what was going on after hearing a loud bang followed by what “almost sounded like a party at first.”

“It sounded like you could hear music and people yelling,” he said, “so that’s why we went down there.”

He saw that the SUV was “almost V-shaped in the way it was smashed.” Terri Drisdelle said she saw people both in the road and on the side of the road amid leaked gas and motorcycle parts strewn about.

One woman on the curb, she said, “looked really bad,” while another “was in the road sort of curled up on the side.” Later, Terri Drisdelle watched emergency personnel cutting pants off of one man. One of the involved motorcyclists, she recalled, attempted to provide others with first aid and said he was an EMT based in Connecticut.

Responding agencies included Northfield Fire Department, Northfield EMS, Winchester, New Hampshire EMS, South County EMS, Turners Falls Fire Department, Northfield Police Department, Gill Police Department, Erving Police Department, Bernardston Police Department, Massachusetts State Police, UMass Memorial Medical Center Life Flight helicopter, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Advanced Response Team helicopter and Boston Med Flight helicopter.

Kimball said around 3:30 p.m. that Route 10 between Moody Street and Wanamaker Street would be closed off for the remainder of the evening for the incident to be investigated.

Reach Julian Mendoza at 413-772-0261, ext. 261 or jmendoza@recorder.com.

]]>