The Pennsylvania Turnpike has reopened to eastbound traffic at New Stanton after a series of accidents near Somerset resulted in two deaths and four injuries Saturday morning.

The highway was closed for about four hours after a series of crashes that began around 6:40 a.m. and the deaths occurred in the third crash, a turnpike spokeswoman said. Traffic had been detoured south on Route 119 and across West Virginia to Interstate 70 and back on the toll road at Breezewood.

The series of crashes involved a tractor-trailer carrying steel coils, two pick-up trucks and a passenger vehicle, but it's not clear which vehicle was involved in the initial incident.

The first crash occurred at milepost 102.1 between Donegal and Somerset when a single vehicle struck a guardrail and blocked the left lane. No one was injured.

The second accident occurred in the same area involving two vehicles that blocked all lanes and resulted in two patients transported to local hospitals.

The third accident, which resulted in two deaths, happened nearby at milepost 101.9. A state police spokeswoman said a driver lost control of his car and slid into the driver’s side door of a tractor-trailer that had stopped because of the previous crashes.

The driver and front seat passenger — identified by police as William Nace, 55, and Debra Nace, 47, both of Delaware, Ohio — were killed. Two other passengers — a 16-year-old boy and 12-year-old girl also from Delaware, Ohio —  were taken to Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC to be treated for minor injuries.  

Passenger vehicles already past New Stanton were directed to use a crossover and U-turn onto westbound lanes to leave the crash area. About a dozen commercial vehicles decided to wait on the eastbound lanes until the accident scene was cleared.

Ed Blazina: eblazina@post-gazette.com, 412-263-1470 or on Twitter @EdBlazina.

First Published: February 3, 2018, 3:26 p.m.
Updated: February 3, 2018, 8:33 p.m.