Third Person Dies in Connection with Saturday’s Multi-Vehicle Crash and Tanker Truck Fire on Turnpike

Tony Di Domizio and Keith Heffintrayer•

A third person has died, reports 6abc, as a result of the fiery crash involving a tanker truck carrying jet fuel and two vehicles that occurred over the weekend on the Northeast Extension (I-476) in Worcester Township.

The crash occurred after an Acura sedan stopped to fix a flat tire in the right lane, at which point a work truck put on their hazard lights and pulled up behind the car to help. A third vehicle — a tanker truck carrying jet fuel — was unable to stop and struck both vehicles.

Per the report, the driver of the Acura remains hospitalized and is the sole survivor of the crash. The driver of the tanker truck, as well as the driver and passenger of the work truck, succumbed to their injuries from the crash, police said.

Crews were initially dispatched to the scene at 10:24 a.m. for a report of a vehicle crash and vehicle fire with injuries and rescue. Arriving first responders found a tanker truck on the shoulder of the northbound lanes of the turnpike engulfed in flames with the wreckage of two other vehicles in front of it and debris strewn across the roadway.

Both the northbound and southbound lanes of the turnpike were closed between the Lansdale and Mid-County exits for a prolonged period as a result of the crash, with the turnpike reopening early Sunday morning.

Coverage provided by CBS3 stated that residents of homes along two roads near the scene were also evacuated due to the crash.