In what is being called a freak accident, a truckdriver was killed Tuesday after his tractor-trailer rolled off the deck of a ferry into the Long Island Sound.

Michael J. Zuber, 53, of Stratford, CT, was unconscious when pulled from the water shortly after the 10:15 a.m. incident, according to published reports. His tractor-trailer, bound for Orient Point, NY, rolled backward off the deck of the Susan Anne and into water 100 feet deep. He was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.

Zuber's 1989 Western Star was the rearmost vehicle on the boat when it ripped through three heavy chains stretching across the stern and sank less than a mile off Long Island. Zuber reportedly was either ejected from the truck or managed to get out as it slid over.

He was found floating in the water shortly after the truck went over, The Hartford Courant reported. He was pulled onto an orange lifeboat that was aboard the ferry.

"The exact reason [for the accident] is under investigation," Chief Carlisle E. Cochran Jr. of the Southold Town Police Department told Newsday. Cochran added that many questions remained unanswered.

The vessel is one of seven that transports people and vehicles between New London, CT, and Orient Point. The trip normally lasts an hour and 15 minutes.