Two Dead, Two Injured in I-79 Crash At Wexford Exit

Two people are dead and two others are seriously injured after a van crashed and struck a utility pole this afternoon on Interstate 79 North in Franklin Park, state police said.

State police did not immediately release the identities of the dead and injured but said three of them are from Beaver County. Trooper Robin Mungo, a spokeswoman for state police at the Moon station, said parents of one of the victims must travel to Western Pennsylvania and, until they arrive Monday, the victims' names would not be released.

The crash occurred around 1:30 p.m. just before the Wexford exit to Route 910. State police said the victims were a 21-year-old man and an 18-year-old woman, both from Baden. Both were passengers in the van and were pronounced dead at the scene, troopers said.

A 16-year-old girl was driving the 1991 Chevrolet Astro van and was in the center lane of the highway, which has three lanes in that area, when she tried to avoid debris on the road, according to state police. The van went off the highway onto the right berm and traveled along the grass at the side of the highway before hitting a pole, troopers said.

The driver and a 21-year-old man from Rochester, who was a passenger in the rear seat, are in serious condition tonight at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh, state police said.

Only the driver was wearing a seat belt, state police said. The crash occurred near but not in a construction zone, troopers said, and investigators do not believe speed contributed to the crash.