LATEST: Fatal I-78 Crash in Pennsylvania: 3 Reported Dead In Massive Vehicle Pileup; Multiple Injuries Confirmed

A snow squall on a snow-covered stretch of I-78 in Pennsylvania’s Lebanon and Berks counties helped cause a deadly 64-vehicle pileup of trucks, SUVs and cars Saturday morning, killing multiple people and injuring dozens, authorities said.

Three people were confirmed dead, Pennsylvania State Police said.

The victims were identified as Francisca V. Pear, 54, of Bridgewater, N.J.; Kenneth J. Lesko, 50, of Bethpage, N.Y.; and Alfred Dean Kinnick, 57, of Limestone, Tenn.

At least four medical helicopters were on the scene Saturday morning to help ambulances ferry the injured to nearby hospitals, PennLive reported.

More than 50 people were transported to seven hospitals in central Pennsylvania and more than 70 people were transported to a shelter set up at the Jonestown Fire Station, Cory Angell, spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency, told Philly.com.

Quickly-escalating whiteout conditions were reported by witnesses just before the crash, PennLive.com said.

There were at least nine tractor-trailer trucks involved in the pileup, the Morning Call reported.

A bus carrying the Penn State Lehigh Valley men’s basketball team was among the vehicles involved, the university said in a statement. The team was on its way to a game in New Kensington when the bus was hit by a tractor trailer in the accident, university officials confirmed.

“At this time there are no reports of serious injury to anyone on the bus. All students are being transported to an area hospital as a precautionary measure,” Penn State said in a statement.

NBC10 reported a snow squall triggered the pileup about 90 miles Northwest of Philadelphia.

Temperatures were well below freezing at the time of the crash as an arctic blast enveloped much of the region. Photos from the scene showed damaged trucks and cars resting haphazard in the highway median, and one tanker was overturned.

People whose cars were involved in the huge pileup were being kept warm in the back of tractor-trailers until rescue buses arrived, Trooper LeBron told PennLive.com.

Governor Wolf’s office was briefed on the incident, and joined in a Saturday conference call with Pennsylvania State Police and local emergency managers, according to Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency.

Police in Lebanon County told the AP that the crash was reported at about 9:45 a.m. Saturday in the eastbound lanes of the interstate near Fredericksburg. The highway was closed between Exit 6 and Exit 8. Lanes were reopened early Sunday morning.

Emergency Preparedness Liaisons from Red Cross, State Police, Dept. of Military and Veteran Affairs, Human Services and Health have responded, the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency said.

Photo: @Cooper_leslie2 via Twitter

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