A deadly crash involving a passenger bus and multiple other vehicles on the Pennsylvania Turnpike left at least five dead and dozens injured early Sunday, shutting down a large portion of the highway.
Officials said at least 60 people, ranging in age from 7 to 52 years old, were hospitalized with unknown injuries after the crash that happened at 3:40 a.m. in Westmoreland County, around 30 miles east of Pittsburgh.
Pennsylvania State Police spokesman Stephen Limani described the incident as an “extremely serious crash.” The people were traveling on a bus from a company named Z & D Tours, Limani said. The company did not immediately return requests seeking comment.
While traveling downhill, the bus lost control as it tried to negotiate a corner, Limani said. The bus went up an embankment, rolled over and was hit by two tractor-trailers, the spokesman said. A car then crashed into the wreck, he added.
“It was kind of a chain-reaction crash,” Limani said.
Limani said the bus was traveling out of Rockaway, New Jersey, en route to Cincinnati, Ohio. Pennsylvania State Police Cpl. Holly Reber-Billings said the trip appeared to have originated from New York, confirming a tweet from New York City’s emergency management team.
Most of the people on the bus were foreign nationals who did not speak English, Limani said.
Photos from the scene show a mangled collision of multiple vehicles including an overturned bus, two tractor-trailers, passenger cars and a smashed FedEx truck that left packages sprawled along the highway.
FedEx did not provide any other details besides that they are cooperating with authorities.
There were 25 victims transported to Excela Frick Hospital in Mt. Pleasant, Excela Health spokeswoman Robin Jennings said. Nine of those patients are under the age of 18.
At least one of the 25 victims initially sent to Excela was transported to a nearby trauma center, Jennings said.
Those hospitalized suffered non-life threatening injuries, though two were listed in critical condition, Limani said.
The National Transportation Safety Board announced Sunday that it dispatched a team of more than a dozen to investigate.
The National Weather Service forecast for Westmoreland County early Sunday listed light unknown precipitation and an air temperature just below freezing.
Angela Maynard, a tractor-trailer driver from Kentucky, said the roads were wet from snow but not especially icy. Maynard was traveling eastbound on the turnpike when she came upon the crash site and called 911.
“It was horrible,” she told The Tribune-Review. She saw lots of smoke but no fire. She and her co-driver found one person trapped in their truck and another lying on the ground.
“I tried to keep him occupied, keep talking, until medical help arrived,” Maynard said. “He was in bad shape. He was floating in and out of consciousness.”
Pennsylvania Turnpike spokesman Carl DeFebo said it was “premature” to say if weather was a factor in the crash.
The highway remains closed in both directions indefinitely. Local fire and emergency medical crews are on scene, along with a hazardous material company cleaning up fuel and other materials. A towing company is getting ready to begin separating the vehicles and getting them cleared.
“It’s a very extensive crash so a lot of work has to be done to get the roadway reconditioned and ready to handle traffic again,” said Craig Shuey, the turnpike’s chief operating officer.
NBC10 Philadelphia and NBC4 New York contributed to this story.
