A 32-year-old Manchester man died Friday morning after the SUV he was driving left northbound Interstate 293 near Exit 4, went down a steep riverbank and landed upside down in the Merrimack River. Emergency crews launched boats to reach the submerged vehicle, but the driver could not be saved.
The driver has been identified as Juan Alonzo Perez Ramirez, 32, of Manchester, according to the Union Leader. He was pulled from the wreckage and brought back to a launch boat before being transferred to Elliot Hospital by ambulance, where he later died from injuries suffered in the crash, the paper reported. A separate CBS Boston report, published September 23, 2026, described a Wednesday crash in which a truck entered the river in a multi-car crash, not this fatal SUV crash. Detailed reporting from the scene describes a single SUV leaving the highway and going down an embankment into the river.
911 Call Came In Before Dawn
A passing driver called 911 at 5:52 a.m. Friday after witnessing a car cross the shoulder and go into the river near Exit 4, prompting the Manchester Fire Department to respond, per the same account from the Union Leader. Separately, NBC Boston reported that someone called just before 6 a.m. to say they'd seen a vehicle cross the shoulder on I-293 and go into the Merrimack River, describing it as having careened down a steep riverbank before landing upside down.
Once on scene, responders located the vehicle roughly 150 yards north of where it had originally been reported, resting upside down with the driver's compartment underwater, the Union Leader account states. Crews deployed two boats from the boat launch near Delta Dental Stadium to reach the overturned SUV and pull the driver free.
Cause Still Under Investigation
Investigators have not said why the SUV left the roadway, according to the NBC Boston report. The crash remains under investigation, and anyone who witnessed it or has information that could help is asked to contact Trooper Alex Peplinski, per the same Union Leader report.
It is not the first time a vehicle has gone off this stretch of highway near the river. In April 2021, a truck carrying lawn-care chemicals lost control on I-293, flipped over the guardrail and landed upside down in the northbound lane, according to Patch. That crash prompted a hazmat response after fluids began leaking near the Merrimack River, with crews using booms to contain the spill before the scene was cleared around 7:45 p.m., Patch reported.
