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A car and tow truck collided in Lehigh County, Pa., killing five people. The passenger in the tow truck survived and was taken to the hospital.
Five people were killed and another was injured when a tow truck and a car collided Thursday afternoon in eastern Pennsylvania, police said.
State Police Cpl. Mark Rowlands said the car ran a stop sign and was hit by a tow truck on a rural road in Heidelberg Township, about 15 miles outside of Allentown, Pa. All four people in the car – three males and one female – and the man driving the tow truck died in the collision, which happened around 2:35 p.m. Thursday, according to a police press release.
A male passenger in the tow truck suffered non-life threatening injuries and was taken to Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest.
Images of the collision aftermath show the car badly mangled beneath the tow truck, which was hauling a box truck at the time of the crash.
Police said the vehicles crashed into a utility pole, causing more than 200 customers of PPL, a utility provider in Allentown, to lose power.
PPL spokesman Michael Wood told msnbc.com the routine outage allowed rescue crews to remove bodies from the vehicles and clean up downed power lines.
Power was fully restored about six hours after the crash.
A spokesman for the Lehigh County coroner’s office told msnbc.com Friday that officials were still trying to identify victims of the crash and contact their families.
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Leave a Comment:
Sad.
"Routine outage???"
I have this gut feeling these were teens.
My question is, in a rural setting you would see the tow truck comming a mile away. What were they thinking? Playing chicken?
playing chicken is usually coming head on. They ran a stop sign so it was probably an intersection. cant really tell from the pic.
texting ? on the phone? playing the driving game blindfold!
Something like this usually happens on I-80
I'm guessing you are from Chicago? Used to live there and saw many accidents that were pretty horrible.
Glad I was not a cop or a paramedic on this one. Hats off to first responders. tough job.
@stonepipe...
As a former EMT and Firefighter, I appreciate that comment... I've been out of the volunteer service now for about 18 years and not a day goes by that I don't remember the faces those poor people who succumb to these violent accidents. Watching people drive like a$$es on the roads just make me mad as heck.
But just to let you know, they have a pretty good bond with their fellow brothers and sisters of the EMS services... takes the edge off... and I'll tell you my personal side, it's wasn't the people who have died at the scene that you worry about... it was the ones that were still alive that we put all our efforts in. It's not till that night or days, even months later that the images of victims would come back.
thanks again..
You are welcome, peace to you and have a safe holiday-and it is us who owe people like you thanks!
The way tow truck drivers drive it comes as a surprise this doesn't happen more often
truesaid...
blame the victim... the TOW TRUCK DRIVER for the action and idiocy fo the car driver which ran the stop sign.
Sad for the victims, sorry for the loss to all families. Too many times people ignore stops signs with fatal results.
Truesaid too stupid a comment on your part to even warrant a reply.
This was not so much about this article as it was to address tow truck drivers and their aggressive habits. In my area they wait in parking lots for a call and race one another to get to a traffic accident. There has been many accicents involving tow truck drivers out to make a buck. So step off your little soap boxes and start kissing my posterior area in a most lively fashion & have a nice day :)
Truesaid if its not about this article then don't post it in this article. Idiot.
" In my area they wait in parking lots for a call and race one another to get to a traffic accident."
Something must be wrong in your neck of the woods, as you must live in a high traffic accident area? I don't blame the tow truck drivers, I blame people like you who causes those accidents. So take your head out of your arse and you might be able to see the road.
Condolences to the families of those lost in this accident.
Drivers... pay attention to the road and obey the signs... they're often there for more reason than a police trap of some kind. This driver found out the hard way, as did his passengers and other innocent people that not paying attention while driving can be a death sentence.
Have a great 4th XD, good posts on the common sense side of life.
Yep be safe on the 4th, don't drink and drive.
The CAR ran the stop sign. Read the story! The tow truck driver was just doing his job!
So, the tow truck driver was not at fault. That's good for his company's insurance. Too bad for the occupants of the car, but it pays to observe traffic signs.
Just taking a wild guess..auto driver was on cell phone even with three passengers in vehicle...saw this a lot of times.
Don't let friends drink/ chat on cell and drive.
So, a total of five people killed (four homicides, one 'suicide'), one injured because the car driver wouldn't/couldn't obey traffic laws. I feel sympathy for the tow truck driver, his passenger and the car's passengers, none whatsoever for the car driver. I have no idea of WHY the driver ran the stop sign, but s/he paid the ultimate penalty for his/her stupidity...
Nothing left but hair, teeth and eyeballs on this one.
I don't think so
The car runs the stop sign and you blame the tow truck? What a clown.
Um, looks like it was a tow truck and a truck coliding......not a car duh!
You comment without reading the article?
The tow truck was hauling the box truck. Car ran a red..tow truck crushes the car.
Car is that small lump of metal..under tow truck.
Um, look again doofus. What's left of the car is under the tow truck. He was pulling the box truck.
The car is under the truck, read the story man.
hey buddy, read the article before making stupid comments. the tow truck was towing the white box truck. the car is that little piece of mangled metal you see beside the red tow truck.
Troy you are an idiot.
Should have just left it at "Um....duh!"
Duh....What a homer.
Way too many people driving thru stop lights and stop signs these days..
I wounder why MSNBC pulled the link to the teacher who drowned while saving a kid in Lake Erie today. Aritcal said that there were up to 6 foot waves... WHY would teachers let kids swim in a lake (albeit a huge lake) with 6 foot waves to begin with? These are surf conditions...
Only takes a few seconds for a child to run into the water. These were five special needs students, even if told not to go near the water sometimes they don't understand in their case. One did go in and a teacher died trying to save him/her.
I'm sure the insurance company will find some reason it was NOT their insured's fault. No one obeys traffic controls around here. The guys from the local tow companies clean up that stupidity all the time. Stop sign, schmop sign. Bang, your dead. oh well....................................
Were they killed AFTER the collision or DURING the collision? If after, who did it?
STFU
sad story, but unbelievable photo, holy crap! It took me a minute to figure out that the car was underneath the truck!! I have to give kudos to first responders and EMT, you all have balls of steel!
condolences to all the families involved
I agree i don't know how they deal with it. I sure couldn't. Sorry for the families who lost their loved ones in this. Just a second of inattention could cause something like this, we've all been guilty of it.
DevilDog943 - Like you have never done a rolling stop, gone slightly faster than you should, or become distracted by your passengers. This was nothing more than a horrible tragic accident. Stop being so self-righteous! My condolences to all of the families.
My best friends son was a passenger in the car. This is very sad for all the families involved and my deepest sympathy is with my friend and her family and everyone elses family who's loved ones lost thier lives. Very sad for all involved.