LONDONDERRY — A 14-year-old boy traveling with his mother on Interstate 93 Wednesday was killed when the car pulled over and he jumped out and was hit by an oncoming car, officials said.

New Hampshire State Police are investigating the collision, which occurred about 4:35 p.m. in the northbound lane, about a quarter-mile north of Exit 4.

It was not immediately known why the mother pulled over the car or the boy jumped out.

A single shoe lay on the roadway beside a tarp set up by police. A compact, silver car was pulled over not far away.

Emergency officials said they received multiple 911 calls from motorists.

“They were all upset when they called in,” one dispatcher said.

The northbound section of the highway between Exits 4 and 5 was closed for about two hours as a state police helicopter circled overhead. State police reopened one northbound lane shortly after 6 p.m. after a tarp was erected to shield passing motorists from the scene. The highway was fully reopened just before 9 p.m.

Traffic at one point was backed up past Exit 2 in Salem, nearly 10 miles away, a dispatcher said.

Members of the New Hampshire State Police Technical Accident Reconstruction Team remained on scene into the evening as they investigated.

A pair of uniformed Londonderry police officers was situated near the Exit 4 northbound on-ramp, rerouting traffic and coping with a handful of minor fender-benders, as motorists grew increasingly frustrated with the long delays.

Local police cleared the bridge area of motorists, who had gotten out of their cars in attempts to get a closer look at the accident.

Several state police and unmarked cruisers were parked near the Exit 4 Burger King, apparently investigating the incident.

A Derry woman, who declined to give her name, said she decided to head over to Burger King and check things out for herself after hearing reports of the fatal accident, but was unable to observe the scene from the parking lot.

She said her aunt had been driving home on Interstate 93 earlier that afternoon and had gotten stuck in the bumper-to-bumper traffic.

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April Guilmet may be reached at AGuilmet@newstote.com. New Hampshire Union Leader Staff Writer Kathryn Marchocki (kmarchocki@unionleader.com) contributed to this report.