A New York man riding as a passenger in a Mercedes Benz SUV was killed after a car hit and then pinned him in the SUV in a massive pileup that closed I-80’s eastbound lanes in Mercer County for nearly 11 hours, authorities said.
Mercer County Coroner John A. Libonati on Thursday identified the passenger killed as Anthony Eugene Mallory, 34, of Rochester, N.Y. He was unconscious after the accident, state police said. Firefighters needed to pry him out of the vehicle.
Mallory was pronounced dead at the scene. No cause or manner of death has been determined yet.
The crash started when a commercial tractor-trailer traveling in the right-hand lane of eastbound I-80 at about 5:45 a.m. started to skid due to “snow and slush” on the highway, state police Trooper Nathan B. Wallace said in his report. That vehicle darted toward the left-hand lane, striking a “median-side ditch.”
The driver of a tractor-trailer swerved to avoid the first vehicle, but hit it, causing the first vehicle’s trailer “to jackknife and block all travel lanes,” Wallace said.
A third commercial vehicle also skid as the driver tried to avoid the first two trucks, then was hit by the fourth, fifth and sixth vehicles, Wallace said. Shortly after, a seventh tractor-trailer entered a skid, hitting the fifth car and also pinning the SUV in which Mallory was a passenger.
All seven drivers were wearing their seatbelts and avoided major injuries, Wallace said. A passenger in the second vehicle was taken to AHN Grove City hospital for “minor head injuries.”
The individual driving with Mallory was pulled out of his vehicle by other motorists and taken to AHN Grove City hospital for evaluation, Wallace said. Their SUV “sustained major damage all-around.”
Mallory was trapped in the fourth vehicle and Mercer East End volunteer firefighters had to extricate him from the SUV, Wallace said.
Drivers on I-80 near the crash “were experiencing white-out conditions” on Wednesday morning, according to PennDOT spokeswoman Jill Henry. Henry confirmed that PennDOT crews were treating the road for snow.
The highway’s eastbound lanes re-opened at about 4:20 p.m. Wednesday, Wallace said.
State police are continuing to investigate.
The pileup occurred near mile marker 14 in East Lackawannock Township. I-80’s exit 15, the exit closest to the crash, takes motorists on Route 19 toward Thiel College and Westminster College, according to an online map.
