Jan 6, 2020 4 min read

Five people were killed and dozens were injured in a crash early Sunday involving several vehicles on the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

The fatal crash involving a tour bus, multiple tractor-trailers and passenger vehicles also injured about 60 people, according to Trooper Steve Limani, public relations officer for Pennsylvania State Police Troop A.

Limani confirmed five fatalities from the crash, which happened in Mount Pleasant Township at mile marker 86.1 westbound when the tour bus traveled on a downhill curve and struck an embankment around 3:33 a.m., according to Pennsylvania State Police Cpl. Holly Reber-Billings, who said the crash is under investigation.

Trooper Steve Limani, public relations officer for Pennsylvania State Police Troop A, said in a Sunday afternoon press conference that the two tractor trailers struck the bus and that a third tractor trailer then collided with the first two, with a passenger car also involved.

“It was kind of a chain reaction-type of crash,” Limani said.

Limani said none of the victims who had survived as of Sunday afternoon faced life-threatening injuries, though two remained in critical condition.

Authorities didn’t have the identities of at least some of the deceased as of Sunday afternoon because of the severity of the crash and resulting vehicle entanglement, Limani said.

“We’re still out there working hard to get IDs of these individuals who have passed away,” Limani said.

There were 31 victims transported to Excela Frick Hospital in Mount Pleasant, Excela Health spokesperson Robin Jennings said, including nine patients under the age of 18. Of those 31 victims, 27 were treated and released in stable condition as of Sunday afternoon while one was transferred to UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh and three were transferred to UPMC Presbyterian in Oakland.

One child at UPMC Children’s was in good condition and two adults at Presbyterian were in good condition and one adult there was in fair condition as of 5:15 p.m. Sunday, according to UPMC.

There were 18 victims transported to UPMC Somerset consisting of 12 adults and six teenagers and children, according to UPMC Somerset director of corporate communications Sarah Deist. All 18 patients were released, Deist said Sunday morning.

Eleven victims were transported to Forbes Hospital in Monroeville, according to hospital president Dr. Mark Rubino, who said those victims’ ages ranged from 15 to 67. Rubino said in a Sunday afternoon news conference that two patients were still in the operating room at that time, with four remaining under the hospital’s care and five discharged.

The crash resulted in the closure of an 86-mile stretch of the turnpike from the New Stanton to Breezewood exits. The eastbound detour at the New Stanton interchange was lifted Sunday afternoon, while the westbound closure remained.

Limani said the bus was traveling from Rockaway, N.J., to Cincinnati, adding that it was a Z&D Tour Inc. bus. Z&D Tour is based in Rockaway, according to U.S. Department of Transportation records.

A majority of the bus travelers were from different countries, Limani said, noting that some spoke Japanese and others spoke Spanish.

The American Red Cross said Sunday morning it was providing assistance and resources to those impacted by the crash.

“We are working with the Red Cross,” Limani said. “They are actually at the scene of the hospitals working with the different problems that come into play when it comes to finding housing, reconnecting loved ones.”

Rubino said that bringing in Spanish-speaking nurses helped, as did clothing that the hospital purchased with funding donated by the Monroeville Foundation.

“It really does take a whole community to run a trauma center,” Rubino said. “What happened was when this bus turned over, a lot of them had all their clothing and their personal belongings contaminated with diesel. So they all came in scared. It was dark. It was cold.”

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash.

“We were told by some of the people who were driving that the weather did start to change, there was some precipitation that was coming down,” Limani said. “The weather could have played a factor, but we’re so early in our investigation right now that it’s hard to try to pinpoint anything specific.”

Craig Shuey, chief operating officer of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, said that road crews had treated the roadway from 9 p.m. Saturday night on, dropping salt and cinder every hour as necessary.

“Our hearts go out to everybody here and around the world that’s been affected by this crash,” Shuey said.