It happed around noontime on Saturday, April 3, in Holyoke on Route 91.
A preliminary investigation indicates that a 2005 Mercedes-Benz operated by a 69-year-old Holyoke woman, now identified as Debra Palata, was traveling southbound on the northbound side of Route 91 in Holyoke, Massachusetts State Police said.
The Mercedes struck a 2013 Honda Civic head-on in the left lane of Route 91 northbound, police said.
The operator of the Honda, a 25-year-old Springfield man, was transported to Baystate Medical Center with serious injuries, according to police.
Palata was determined to be dead at the scene, police said.
The facts and circumstances of the crash, including the reason for the wrong-way operation, remain under investigation by Troop B of the Massachusetts State Police with the assistance of the State Police Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Section and the State Police Crime Scene Services Section.
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