Chestnut Hill Man, 19, Identified as Victim of Startling Pike Crash

CHESTNUT HILL, MA – A 19-year-old Chestnut Hill man died early Sunday morning when his vehicle somehow went airborne and struck the ceiling of a tunnel on the Mass. Pike, state police said.

Yao Cao was killed when his 2013 Audi 8 left the ground and struck the ceiling of the tunnel, ripping down wires and cables.

Cao, of China, was a freshman at Suffolk University, The Boston Globe reported.

Police responded to a single-vehicle crash near Exit 22 on the Pike eastbound around 2:15 a.m. A preliminary investigation indicates "excessive speed and impairment" caused the crash, police said.

Cao was pronounced dead at the scene. A female passenger was transported to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.