Five people injured in Somerset wreck
Five people, including at least one child, were injured Sunday in a crash at a dangerous intersection in Somerset Township.
Firefighters were dispatched at 3:08 p.m. to Brownlee Road and Route 136 for a two-vehicle accident, said Scott Hackinson Sr., first assistant chief at Valley Inn Volunteer Fire Department. Two of the injured were flown to UPMC-Children’s and UPMC-Presbyterian hospitals in Pittsburgh. Hackinson said three other people were taken by ambulance but it wasn’t immediately clear to which hospitals.
Hackinson said one of the vehicles, a van, turned over on its roof. The other vehicle involved was a car.
Traffic was backed up along the winding approaches to the intersection as emergency personnel worked at the scene until about 4:30 p.m.
Fallowfield Township and Ellsworth volunteer fire departments responded along with Valley Inn and state police. Canonsburg, Tri-Community Ambulance, Bearcat Ambulance and Jefferson Hills Area Ambulance also assisted.
Further details weren’t immediately available Sunday afternoon.
The intersection earned its reputation for being dangerous after five people were killed there April 24, 2008, when a van carrying group home residents collided with a tractor-trailer. Seven others were injured.
Those who died were in a large transport van, which was occupied by nine residents and two workers from Mental Health Association of Washington County group home in Bentleyville. The group was on its way to the Pittsburgh Zoo for a day trip.
The state Department of Transportation spent more than $557,000 to realign the Route 136-Brownlee Road intersection after the deadly crash.