Fiery head-on crash kills 5 on Route 222 in Upper Macungie Township, Pennsylvania

Township police chief Edgardo Colon says the vehicle heading north on state Route 222 crossed the median into the path of a southbound truck. All five people in the vehicle were pronounced dead at the scene. The truck driver suffered minor injuries. He's been identified as Richard Eckrote of Allentown.

Five people were killed in a head-on crash between a tractor trailer and a Subaru on Route 222, about three miles north of the border between Berks and Lehigh counties. A Subaru Impreza was traveling north about a quarter-mile south of Grim Road when it crossed the median and collided head-on with a southbound tractor trailer. After impact, the Subaru split into two pieces, and two people were thrown from the car, according to police. Both the tractor trailer and the car then burst into flames.

Grim said identification could take some time due to the damage to the bodies. He said officials hope to identify one person using fingerprints and that investigators would attempt to use DNA and dental records to identify the other four bodies. He confirmed that two of the bodies are female and one is male, but the gender of the other two is unknown.

Upper Macungie police Chief Edgardo Colon earlier Wednesday said witness accounts indicate a Subaru Legacy in which the five were riding had been headed north on Route 222 in the area of the highway's split with Route 100. For an unknown reason, the vehicle crossed the grassy median about a quarter mile south of Grim Road and into the path of a Freightliner truck with a JMH trailer, causing a head-on collision.

An explosion followed, and both vehicles became engulfed in flames, Colon said. The passenger vehicle was torn into two pieces and two people were thrown from the vehicle. 

Five autopsies were conducted Thursday and all resulted in the same conclusions: those who perished died of multiple blunt-force injuries due to the collision, Coroner Scott Grim said.

An investigation revealed the victims were a group of co-workers who were commuting together on their way home from work in Upper Macungie Township.

So far, the coroner has determined that there were two females and one male. Further examination is needed for the other two victims.

Rosa Lajara-Marine, 59, and Mercedes Silvestre Castillo, 34, both of Allentown, were carpooling from a packaging plant in Lower Macungie Township with three co-workers when the crash happened, police said.

"I love her, but God had to take her," Emmanuel said in Spanish, standing near the doorway of the family's West Washington Street home. "My dad told me to be strong and be prepared for everything to come."

Colon said all who died were in the car. Their identities will be withheld until all close relatives are notified and positive identifications are complete, police said.

Coroner Scott Grim said fingerprints were used to identify 59-year-old Rosa Lajara-Marine of 34-year-old Mercedes Silvestre Castillo. He said dental records helped identify 19-year-old Jessegel Diaz-Hernanez and 30-year-old Barbara Bruno Rondon. All four were residents of Allentown.