PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A city man was killed Sunday night in an accident on I-87 in New York State. 

 

Joseph Mensah-Otoo, age 42, of Pittsfield, was ejected from his vehicle and pronounced dead at the scene after New York State Police say he hit three vehicles traveling the wrong way on the thruway. 

 

Three other Berkshire residents traveling north were injured when their vehicles were struck.

 

At approximately 9:11 p.m. on Sunday, troopers assigned to the Albany Thruway barracks responded to a report of a wrong-way driver on Interstate 87 northbound, between Exits 19 and 20, in the town of Saugerties.

 

A preliminary investigation determined that a 2025 Toyota was traveling southbound in the northbound lanes when it struck a 2022 Honda, a 2020 BMW, and a 2017 Ford F-150, all of which were traveling northbound.

 

The operator and sole occupant of the Toyota was identified as Mensah-Otoo.

 

Six other individuals were injured in the crash, including a 37-year-old man from New City; a 59-year-old man and a 44-year-old woman, both from Cohoes, N.Y.; two 19-year-old men, both from Dalton; and a 19-year-old man from Hinsdale. 

 

All were transported to Health Alliance Hospital in Kingston, N.Y., with non-life-threatening injuries.

 

State Police say the accident is still under investigation. They did not indicate how or why Mensah-Otoo was driving in the wrong lanes.