Chesco officials seek to identify crash victim

Authorities were working yesterday to identify the victim of a fiery three-vehicle crash in Chester County.

"We couldn't even tell what kind of car it was," Sgt. Richard Gorman of the Westtown-East Goshen Regional Police Department said of the burned-out wreckage.

The chain-reaction accident occurred at 6:52 a.m. yesterday on northbound Route 202 at Greentree Drive in Thornbury Township. Gorman said the victim's car appeared to be stopped at the traffic light when a box truck rear-ended it, propelling it into the car in front of it and igniting a blaze.

The impact was so severe that the rear of the victim's car was smashed into the front seat, Gorman said.

Chester County District Attorney Joseph W. Carroll said the truck driver told police that he "hit the brakes and they failed." Carroll said a search warrant was being executed so that investigators could examine the truck.

Two men in the front car, whose names were not released by police, were taken to Chester County Hospital; however, Gorman said their injuries appeared minor. The northbound lanes of Route 202 reopened after being shut down for more than five hours.

Gorman said police were withholding the truck driver's identity pending the outcome of the investigation.

Anyone with information is being asked to call Westtown-East Goshen police through the Chester County Radio Room at 610-344-5100.