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A fatal accident on Route 222 in Maidencreek Township closed down the highway for eight hours on Monday.
Northern Berks Regional Police were dispatched to a motor vehicle crash with injuries and entrapment on Route 222 southbound, about 2/10 mile north of Pleasant Hill Road in Maidencreek Township at about 6:35 a.m. on Oct. 22.
Arriving emergency services units found a five-vehicle crash involving two commercial vehicles (truck tractor with semi-trailer), a pick up truck, a sport utility vehicle and a mid-size four door Sedan.
Northern Berks Regional Police Sergeant Ronald Mohl reported that a preliminary investigation reveals that the Sedan, tractor trailer, SUV and pick up truck were stopped or nearly stopped in the southbound lanes of Route 222 due to normal traffic volume. A second tractor trailer was headed southbound going about 55 miles per hour and plowed into the line of stopped vehicles, according to Mohl.
The tractor trailer struck the back of the pick up truck, pushing it into the rear of the SUV, pushing the SUV into the rear bumper of the semi-trailer of the other tractor trailer, which pushed forward into the Sedan.
Mohl said that the pick up truck and SUV were crushed in between the tractor trailers with severe damage caused to both vehicles. The pick up truck landed on its side with the male driver trapped inside. He was flown to Lehigh Valley Hospital with serious injuries, according to Mohl.
The SUV landed upside down and partially inside the semi-trailer with the female driver pinned inside the SUV. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
The male driver of the second tractor trailer and the female driver of the Sedan were transported to area hospitals, treated and released for minor injuries, said Mohl.
Police did not release the names of those involved in the crash.
The highway was shut down for eight hours for investigation and cleanup of fluid spills.
The crash is under investigation by the Northern Berks Regional Police Department with assistance from the Berks County District Attorney’s Office Crash Reconstruction Task Force and Forensic Unit.
