The Armstrong County Coroner’s Office has identified two people killed in a multi-vehicle crash that shut down both lanes of northbound Route 28 for a time on Monday morning.
The road was shut down shortly after 9 a.m. between Exit 18 PA 128 — Slate Lick/Northpointe and Exit 19 US 422 East/PA 28 North — Kittanning/Indiana.
Michael Gargett, 44 and Mara Reilly, 46, both of Pittsburgh were fatally injured while traveling northbound on State Route 28 around mile marker 36 in North Buffalo Township, coroner Brian Myers reported.
This was approximately a mile from the Kittanning exit.
The 2008 Pontiac G6 they were driving swerved to miss a car on the shoulder and lost control.
Myers said they rear ended an International Commercial box truck that was also stopped on the shoulder.
Gargett and Reilly were pronounced dead at the scene. They were wearing seat belts, Myers said.
Weather conditions and speed are considered to be factors in the crash. The causes of deaths were blunt force trauma to the head and abdomen.
Myers said autopsies will be done Tuesday. Toxicology results will not be available for several weeks.
PennDOT announced shortly after 1:30 p.m. that the roadway had been opened to vehicle traffic between the Slatelick and Kittanning exits.
The coroner’s office was assisted at the scene by state police Kittanning barracks, firefighters from West Kittanning, East Franklin and Saxonburg and Kittanning No. 6 Ambulance.
