A woman and 6-year-old girl were killed Monday morning when their van left the road and hit a tractor-trailer parked alongside Interstate 78 east in Upper Saucon Township, state police at Fogelsville said.
The crash happened at 6:25 a.m. when a work van driven by a 32-year-old woman left the road and struck the rear of a tractor-trailer parked on the shoulder about three miles east of the Summit Lawn exit. The woman and 6-year-old passenger, both of Allentown, were killed, police said. Police did not indicate if the woman and child are related, but said neither was wearing a seatbelt.The tractor-trailer had its emergency flashers on, and the driver was out of the vehicle, police said.
The identities of the van driver and child are being withheld pending notification of next of kin.Two of the three eastbound lanes were closed for hours after the crash, reopening around 11:30 a.m.
Emergency scanner broadcasts indicated that another pair of wrecks happened around 9:30 a.m. in the westbound side of the highway opposite the fatal crash, causing additional traffic tie-ups.Reports indicated there was at least one tractor trailer involved in the wrecks with a possible fluid spill. There did not appear to be any injuries in those crashes, according to broadcasts from emergency crews.
Police and the Lehigh County District Attorney’s Office are investigating the fatal crash.