Westbound lanes of Ohio Turnpike re-opened after fatal accident

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A fatal accident on the Ohio Turnpike at mile marker 223 caused the westbound lanes to be closed for several hours on Wednesday.

The six vehicle accident happened on the westbound side of the turnpike, between Lordstown and Youngstown, around 11:30 a.m. 

According to the Ohio State Highway Patrol Hiram Post, a Canfield fire truck and a turnpike commission vehicle were responding to an unrelated accident.

The fire truck stopped in the right lane of the highway with it's emergency lights on. A Nissan SUV, driven by Karen Zorn, 27, from Maryland then stopped behind the fire truck.

Zorn's SUV was rear-ended by a Dodge pick-up truck hauling two vehicles on a car hauler. The SUV became wedged between the trucks causing it to catch on fire, killing Zorn.

The pick-up truck hauling the cars overturned, hitting two other vehicles as they passed by.

David Heath, 71, from Illinois was injured when his Ford Edge was struck by the car hauler.

Two Canfield firefighters, Brian Blevins, 33, and Troy Kolar, 40, were taken to area hospitals with non-life threatening injuries.

The driver of the truck hauling the vehicles, Allen Worley, 25, from Indiana, was flown to St. Elizabeth's Health Center for treatment.

The crash remains under investigation.

All of the westbound lanes have re-opened on Interstate 76.


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