A female school van driver died in a crash at the intersection of Routes 22 and 819 in Salem on Friday morning after a tractor-trailer ran a red light, according to state Trooper Steve Limani.
A 17-year-old Greensburg Salem High School student driving an SUV to school also was hurt, according to Limani and school district officials. The school van was on a route for the district but no students were on board.
The SUV and school van were on opposite sides of Route 819 waiting at stop lights where the road meets Route 22. When their traffic lights turned green, both drove into the intersection when the tractor-trailer slammed into them, Limani said. The SUV driver was taken to a hospital in stable condition.
The van driver’s identity has not been released.
“It’s horrible that we had a loss of life, I can only imagine how horrific it is for the school district,” he said. “We’re really upset and sad that we have to investigate such a horrific incident.”
The bright sun at the time of the crash just after 7 a.m. may have played a role, Limani said.
Route 22 was closed in the area, according to PennDOT. The van was being operated by DMJ Transportation, said Kayla Tamer, associate to the Greensburg Salem superintendent and coordinator of community outreach.
“We are deeply saddened by this and our condolences go out to the driver’s family, friends and colleagues,” she said.
School counselors and staff were available Friday to help any students or staff members, superintendent Ken Bissell said in a letter sent to parents.
“As a school community, we understand the impact of such a loss and encourage those who need support to reach out,” he said in the letter.
The highway was expected to be closed while state police reconstruct the crash. Troopers were also examining the tractor-trailer, which was hauling lumber, to see if it was working properly.
“Right now we don’t have any reason to think there was something going on with the tractor-trailer that would cause it to have any malfunctions,” he said.
The speed limit in the area is 45 mph and it is a heavily traveled section of Route 22, Limani said.
“We do enforce traffic specifically in this region, our troopers from Kiski Valley come out here quite a bit to run radar and do traffic enforcement,” he said.