Horrifying “Chain Reaction” Tractor Trailer Wreck On Pennsylvania Turnpike Leaves 5 Dead, 60 Injured

Five people were killed and dozens were injured after a massive wreck on the PA Turnpike Sunday morning. The accident took place at 3:40am near a “mountainous and rural stretch of the interstate about 30 miles east of Pittsburgh”.

The accident happened after a loaded bus lost control on a hill and rolled over, which set off a chain reaction involving three tractor trailers, according to AP. The accident caused the highway to be shut down in both directions for several hours before re-opening. 

Photos from the scene show multiple vehicles wrecked and blocking an entire side of the turnpike. 

Injured victims ranged from age 7 to 67 years old and all are expected to survive. Two patients remain in critical condition.  

Two UPS drivers, driving together in a tractor trailer and coming from Harrisburg, PA, were killed in the crash, according to the company. The bus was traveling from Rockaway, NJ to Cincinnati, Ohio and was operated by a company called Z&D Tours. It was going downhill around a curve and wound up rolling over before two tractor trailers struck the vehicle. 

A passenger car was also involved. 

Disturbing video from the scene of the wreck can be seen here:

Pennsylvania State Police spokesman Stephen Limani said: “It was kind of a chain-reaction crash.”

Pennsylvania Turnpike spokesman Carl DeFebo said: “I haven’t personally witnessed a crash of this magnitude in 20 years. It’s horrible.”

Excela Health Frick Hospital in Mount Pleasant said it treated 31 victims. Mark Rubino, president of Forbes Hospital, which treated 11 victims, said: 

“The people coming in were not only physically injured but they were traumatized from a mental standpoint as well. Most were covered in diesel fuel when they arrived. The hospital treated fractured bones, brain bleeds, contusions, abrasions and spinal injuries.”

The exact cause of the crash is still being investigated and the NTSB has sent a team to investigate. It could take “weeks or months” to determine the cause. 

Angela Maynard, a tractor trailer driver from Kentucky, said the roads were wet from snow, but not icy. She found the crash site and called 911. She then stepped out to help another driver who was trapped in their truck.

“I tried to keep him occupied, keep talking, until medical help arrived. He was in bad shape. He was floating in and out of consciousness,” she said.