11-year-old Connellsville Township boy dies in Turnpike crash
An 11-year-old Connellsville Township boy died when a pickup truck hit a semi-truck on the Pennsylvania Turnpike in Mount Pleasant Township, Westmoreland County, Thursday afternoon.
Hayden M. Field was pronounced dead at the scene by a Westmoreland County deputy coroner, the coroner’s office said in a release Thursday evening.
The driver, identified as Harvey D. Field, 49, of Connellsville Township was taken to UPMC Presbyterian Hospital in Pittsburgh by Mount Pleasant EMS. His injuries are believed to be serious, state police said.
The boy and the pick-up truck driver became entrapped in the vehicle near mile marker 86 of Interstate 76, at about 2 p.m. The semi-truck was traveling slowly in the right lane when the pick-up truck hit the semi “for unknown reasons,” state police in New Stanton wrote in a media release.
The semi-truck driver was identified as Barrie Abdoulie, 36, of West Fargo, North Dakota.
In a voicemail to parents at Connellsville Area Middle School, where Field was a student, Superintendent Joe Bradley said the district’s crisis response team has been mobilized.
“Additional district counselors, along with counselors specially trained in grief, death and mourning will be present (Friday) and as long as needed to assist both children and staff with the feelings they are experiencing,” he said.
“On behalf of the entire Connellsville Area School District, we extend our sympathy and condolences to the family. Our thoughts prayers and support are with them,” Bradley said.
State police in New Stanton are investigating the cause of the crash. A state police accident reconstruction unit and forensics unit also responded to the scene, along with Mutual Aid EMS, Medic 10 EMS, Herring Motors and Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission personell.
An autopsy will be performed by forensic pathologist Dr. Cyril Wecht in Pittsburgh.