One person is dead and two others injured after a three-vehicle crash Friday that left the Route 28 Expressway closed for hours.
The accident just after 5:30 p.m. closed the northbound lanes of the highway between the R.I.D.C. Park and Harmar exits until almost 11 p.m., leaving rush-hour commuters from Pittsburgh stranded.
State police investigators were not releasing the name of the person killed pending notification of the man's family. The identities of the two injured persons were still not available late last night.
According to state police, a blue Nissan traveling south was speeding and lost control. The speed limit on that section of the road is 55 mph. The car hit the guard rail along the southbound lane and swerved over the median strip into the northbound lane where it collided with a Pepsi tractor-trailer. A Chevrolet pickup truck then struck the tractor-trailer from behind, said Trooper Mark Honkus. The tractor-trailer jackknifed, blocking both northbound lanes, and crushed the Nissan after striking the driver's side, Honkus said.
The drivers of the pickup and tractor-trailer trucks were taken to UPMC St. Margaret, near Aspinwall.
There were no passengers in any of the vehicles, Honkus said.
Drivers were forced to take Freeport Road toward Harmar, where police detoured traffic, which became a crawling line of red tail lights.
