Police in Mercer Co. ID victims of I-79 crash
State Police have released the names of the three people seriously injured in an accident that shut down the southbound lanes of Interstate 79 in Mercer County for nearly 8 hours on Monday.
The interstate was shut down shortly after 2 p.m. backing up traffic when a pickup truck hauling a trailer camper lost control on the ramp from Interstate 80, running into a Toyota Rav 4 in the I-79 southbound lanes.
The pickup and camper then struck the pillars of the Mercer Grove City Road overpass before landing in the median of I-79.
The Rav4 overturned several times before stopping in the middle of the I-79 southbound lanes.
Police identified the driver of the pickup truck as 37-year-old Luke McGee, of Butler, Pa. The driver of the Rav4 was Thomas Nestor, 65 and his passenger was 66-year-old Lisa Nestor, both of Coraopolis, Pa.
All three were seriously injured and taken by medical helicopter to UPMC Presbyterian Hospital in Pittsburgh, and Mercy Hospital in Youngstown.
I-79 southbound reopened shortly before 10 p.m.