The police said they began receiving 911 calls around 7:45 p.m. on Wednesday about a car heading south on the northbound side of a major highway in Connecticut.

Shortly after, the calls changed to reports of a head-on collision.

In the end, a teenager driving the wrong way down Interstate 95 and two elderly people in the car she crashed into, were dead, the police said.

The wrong-way driver, in a blue Mercedes-Benz, was identified as Abigayl J. Lanphear, of Westerly, R.I., the Connecticut State Police said. The passenger in her car, Jada Laboy, also of Westerly, R.I., suffered serious injuries.

The two young women were both about to turn 18 this month, officials said.

In the other vehicle, a black Honda Accord, the driver, Roger A. Noel, 85, and his front-seat passenger, Dorothy Noel, 83, both of West Warwick, R.I., were killed, officials said.

Two passengers in the back seat of the Honda — Yvonne Noel, 56, of West Kingston, R.I., and Cynthia Plaziak, 62 — were injured. Ms. Noel sustained serious injuries and Ms. Plaziak minor ones, the police said.

The injured passengers in the Honda were taken to Lawrence and Memorial Hospital and then transferred to Yale New Haven Hospital, officials said.

Ms. Laboy was taken to Rhode Island Hospital. A hospital spokeswoman declined to comment on her condition because of her age.

It is unclear why the girl was headed in the wrong direction on the highway. The crash, in North Stonington, between exits 92 and 93 of 1-95 not far from the Rhode Island border, remains under investigation, the police said.

Azi Paybarah writes the New York Today column. He was raised in Queens, educated in Albany and lives in Manhattan. He worked at The Queens Tribune, The New York Sun, Politico New York and elsewhere before joining The Times. Email him or follow him on Twitter. @Azi

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