Pennsylvania Turnpike crash – Girl, 9, among five killed in shocking highway pileup that injured 60
A NINE-year-old girl was among five killed and dozens injured in a fiery massive car wreck that involved a tour bus, three tractor-trailers and a car on Sunday.
Jaremy Vazquez, from Brooklyn, New York, was aboard a bus to Ohio on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, around 30 miles east of Pittsburgh, when the bus lost control on a hill, officials said.
The 52-seat bus careened up an embankment and rolled over, setting off a chain reaction on the highway around 3.40am.
Two tractor-trailers hit the bus, then a third tractor-trailer hit those trucks. A passenger car was also involved in the pile-up.
Vazquez was one of five people killed in the horrifying crash, that left another 60 people injured.
Two UPS drivers, Daniel Kepner, 53, and Dennis Kehler, 48, were killed in the crash, according to a company spokesperson. They were traveling together out of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
The bus driver, Shuang Qing Feng, 58, and another passenger, Eileen Zelia Aria, 35, were also killed in the wreck. They, along with Vazquez, were from New York City.
At least 60 people were transported to local hospitals with a range of wounds including fractured bones, brain bleeds, contusions, abrasions and spinal injuries.
All were expected to survive as of Sunday.
The bus, operated by New Jersey-based Z & D Tours, was heading from Chinatown, New York to Cincinnati, Ohio, officials said. It had made its first stop in Rockaway, New Jersey, before the crash.
The wreck unfolded on a mountainous and rural stretch of the highway and closed down the highway in both directions for about 90 miles until Sunday night.
“I haven’t personally witnessed a crash of this magnitude in 20 years,” Pennsylvania Turnpike spokesman Carl DeFebo told WTEA. “It’s horrible.”
Many of those on the bus included students and people returning from visiting family in New York and many were from outside the U.S. Some of those involved, who don’t speak English, lost their luggage and passports.
State police spokesperson Stephen Limani said: “We’re doing everything we can to make sure while they’re in our country, and they’re involved in this horrific incident.”
“That we’re able to be compassionate and provide the things that they’re going to need outside of just medical treatment,” he .
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The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating.
Limani said it could take weeks or months to determine what caused the crash.
The National Weather Service forecast for the area listed unknown precipitation and an air temperature just below freezing early Sunday, but officials said it’s too soon to tell whether weather played a role.