Crime & Safety

One Dead After Possible 50-Vehicle PA Turnpike Collision

The weather made for slippery road conditions throughout the Lehigh Valley.

Written by Community Editor Nicole Foulke

One person died following an accident on the Pennsylvania Turnpike Sunday afternoon in which up to 50 vehicles might have been involved, according to Action News 6abc.com.

According to the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, the accident occurred on the westbound side of the turnpike around 12:30 p.m. between the Downingtown and Morgantown interchanges at mile marker 300.

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Officials say weather may have contributed to the accident.

Patch editor Courtney Elko was stuck on the westbound side of the turnpike from 12:45 p.m. to 4:45 p.m., when traffic was immobile.

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“People who walked to the scene said cars are in ditches off the road and some have lost tires. Cars are parking on the shoulder and people were leaving, walking. Cars have had to be jumped. Dogs were being walked on shoulder,” wrote Elko in a message to her colleagues around 4:40 p.m.

Elko was able to exit the turnpike but indicated around 5:30 p.m. that traffic was moving "very slowly" in both directions.

The weather made for slippery road conditions throughout the Lehigh Valley. 

In Upper Macungie, a young driver was taken by ambulance to Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest after he lost control of his vehicle while driving north on Krocks Road and struck a pole on the side of the roadway. The juvenile boy was suffered head and neck injuries in the 3:07 p.m. accident. Police blamed weather conditions.


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