A father and his four daughters were killed in a multi-vehicle crash in Delaware on Friday, Delaware State Police report.
A police investigation has found that at about 3:45 p.m. on Friday, for unknown reasons, a Ford F-350 truck crossed into the grassy median and into the northbound lane on Route 1 when it struck the left rear side of a Mercury Sable, causing it to spin out of control and come to a rest in an embankment, according to police.
- RELATED NEWS
- Viral video shows police arresting black teen outside of Philadelphia Zoo
- Here's why you might be seeing more fireflies than usual this year in the Delaware Valley
- Two police cars violently collide in Northeast Philadelphia
The truck continued out of control going southbound in the northbound lane when the front of a Toyota Sienna struck the passenger side of the truck. The impact caused both vehicles to spin off the road and into a ditch, a media release from police read.
Police said the operator of the truck, a 44-year-old male from East New Market, Maryland, and his 30-year-old passenger were transported to a local area hospital where they were treated and released with non-life threatening injuries. The operator of the Mercury Sable was also mostly unharmed.
The father and his four daughters, ages 20, 17 and two 13 year-old twins, who were not wearing seatbelts, were pronounced dead at the scene. The 53-year-old wife, who was wearing a seatbelt in the front passenger seat, remains in critical condition at a local hospital with serious injuries.
Police have not yet released the names of the deceased.
An off-duty first responder that was at the scene told Delaware News Journal it was the "worse I've ever seen."
Southbound State Rt. 1 in the area of Pine Tree Road was closed for approximately 90 minutes and the northbound lanes were closed for approximately 5 hours while the crash was investigated and cleared.