One of the victims of the fiery tractor-trailer crash on Interstate 79 early Thursday morning has been identified as Frank L. Tupper, Jr., a 54-year-old resident of Oak Hills Mnr Medical Examiner’s Office said Tupper died at the scene of the crash in Sewickley Hills around 12:50 a.m. The cause and manner of his death are still under investigation.
According to state police, the crash occurred when a tractor-trailer traveling south on I-79, near mile marker 67, crossed the center median and continued driving in the wrong direction on the northbound lanes. The tractor-trailer collided head-on with a car, sending both vehicles into an embankment and igniting a fire. The trailer then hit another car that was going north. It is unclear which car Tupper was in.
Both drivers of the tractor-trailer and the car that was hit head-on died at the crash site, police said. Their identities have not been released yet.